IH  ill! 


UNIVERSITY  FARM 


SF/99 

S5 

A  5 


H  ISTORY 


SHORT-HORN  CATTLE 


THEIR   ORIGIN,  PROGRESS   AND 
PRESENT   CONDITION. 


BY 


LEWIS  F.  ALLEN, 

AUTHOR  OF  "AMERICAN  CATTLE,"  EDITOR  OF  THE  "AMERICAN  SHORT-HORN 
HERD  BOOK,"  ETC. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y.: 
PUBLISHED    BY   THE   AUTHOR. 

No.  1192  Niagara  Street. 
1872. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

LEWIS  F.  ALLEN, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington, 


WARREN,  JOHNSON  &  Co. 

Stereotypers,  Printers  and  Binders, 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  book  has  cost  me  much  labor.  The  material  from 
which  it  has  been  drawn  was  difficult  to  obtain — much  more 
than  those  not  conversant  with  the  subject  would  imagine — and 
many  years  have  elapsed  in  its  gathering.  Short-horn  cattle 
history,  in  a  connected  form,  has  never  existed  since  the  race 
has  been  known,  and  it  is  only  through  the  scraps  and  desultory 
notes  made  from  time  to  time  by  different  breeders  and  occa- 
sional writers  within  the  past  seventy  years  that  we  learn  any- 
thing with  certainty,  and  then  in  such  disconnected  fragments 
that  the  toil  of  dissecting,  arranging,  and  putting  them  together 
understandingly  has  been  most  perplexing  and  difficult. 

Still,  the  work,  such  as  it  is,  has  been  accomplished  ;  and 
that  a  volume  of  this  character  is  needed  by  the  Short-horn 
breeders,  of  America,  and  other  countries  where  the  race  exists, 
must  be  evident  to  every  intelligent  breeder.  Many  of  the 
various  writings  relating  to  Short-horns,  their  breeding  and  pro- 
gress, scattered  through  the  agricultural  publications  of  the  day, 
both  in  Great  Britain  and  America  are  of  decided  value ;  but 
portions  of  them  have  been  intermixed  with  such  partisan  feel- 
ing, and  sometimes  so  inaccurate  in  statement  as  to  yield  little 
of  correct  information  to  those  who  wish  to  arrive  at  the  real 
truth  of  Short-horn  history.  The  mass  of  cattle  breeders  have 
not  been  of  the  class  addicted  to  scholastic  pursuits,  although 
they  knew  many  facts,  valuable  and  important.  Many  of  these 

122624 


IV  PREFACE. 

facts  have  been  given  to  the  world ;  but  more  of  them  have 
perished  with  their  possessors  who  died  and  left  no  sign  of 
their  labors,  other  than  the  noble  animals  whose  posterity  have 
survived  them. 

The  English  Herd  Books,  from  the  year  1822,  have  recorded 
pedigrees  of  the  Short-horns  existing  nearly  a  century  back, 
and  as  they  have  since  increased  and  multiplied,  down  to  the 
present  time ;  but  they  have  given  us  pedigrees  only.  Had 
they  been  accompanied  with  historical  matter  relating  to  their 
breeders,  and  the  distinguished  animals  of  their  times,  they 
would  have  added  much  of  both  interest  and  instruction. 
Some  such  notes  have  been  written  by  accurate  observers, 
and  preserved,  from  which  we  have  gleaned  valuable  informa- 
tion ;  but  the  information  derived  from  them  is  less  full  and 
complete  than  could  be  wished.  Inference  and  guess-work 
have  been  measurably  resorted  to  by  some  writers  in  past  days 
to  give  color  to  various  facts  and  theories  of  their  own — some 
of  them  right,  and  some  erroneous.  In  the  examination  of 
authorities  leading  to  the  present  work  many  contradictory 
statements  have  been  canvassed,  and  an  effort  has  been  made 
to  separate  the  probable  from  the  improbable ;  yet  it  is  not 
denied  that  errors  may  be  found  in  these  pages,  so  difficult  has 
it  been  to  detect  and  separate  fact  from  opinion,  truth  from 
imagination. 

It  may  be  asked  :  Why,  with  such  contrarieties  of  historical 
fact  and  opinion,  strive  to  write  Short-horn  history  at  all  ?  The 
plain  answer  is :  The  Short-horns  have  a  history,  and  a  most 
interesting  one.  A  hundred  years  ago  they  were  comparatively 
an  obscure  race  of  cattle,  even  in  the  land  of  their  nativity. 
For  several  centuries  they  had  been  considered  of  little  value 
over  other  common  neat  cattle,  until  sagacious  men  discovered 


PREFACE.  V 

their  capability  of  improvement ;  and  through  the  persevering 
efforts  of  such  men  they  have  been  raised  to  a  degree  of  per- 
fection, value,  and  popularity,  far  beyond  any  other  of  the 
known  bovine  races.  The  money  value  of  well-bred  Short- 
horns now  in  the  United  States  alone,  may  be  safely  estimated 
at  several  millions  of  dollars.  They  are  worthy  of  a  history, 
and  a  better  one,  too,  if  possible,  than  is  here  presented ;  but 
there  having  appeared  no  other,  this  must  suffice  until  an  abler 
and  more  painstaking  pen  shall  replace  or  supercede  it. 

This  effort  has  been  a  labor  of  love  chiefly,  for  in  its  limited 
sale — anticipated  only  among  Short-horn  breeders — no  pecuni- 
ary profit  can  result  from  its  publication.  Having  been  for  many 
years  connected  with  the  compilations  of  the  American  Herd 
Book,  and  so  many  questions  continually  arising  touching  facts 
and  incidents  in  their  previous  breeding,  (perhaps  better  known 
to  the  author  through  his  several  hundreds  of  correspondents 
than  to  almost  any  other,)  he  has  been  convinced  that  these 
cattle  should  have,  as  they  well  deserve,  as  full  a  history  as  can 
be  given  of  their  race.  The  book  makes  no  pretension  to 
literary  merit.  It  is  a  plain  subject,  treated  in  a  plain  way, 
and  in  the  hope  that  it  will  be  understood  by  all  who  may  look 
into  its  pages.  Omissions,  both  of  fact  and  date,  there  may  be, 
on  the  detection  of  which  fastidious  critics  may  carp  and  con- 
demn. If  such  there  be,  we  advise  them  to  go  forthwith  to 
work  and  get  up  a  better.  Without  further  apology  or  excuse 
for  its  shortcomings,  it  goes  forth  to  the  public. 

It  is  proper  to  say  in  this  connection,  that  both  the  first  and 
second  volumes  of  the  American  Herd  Book  contain  consid- 
erable matter  (written  and  edited  by  the  author  of  this  work) 
relating  to  Short-horn  history,  as  then  understood.  But  the  pres- 
ent work  supercedes  all  that,  as  further  sources  of  information 


vi  PREFACE. 

more  detailed,  and  in  some  instances  more  accurate,  have  since 
come  to  light. 

It  is  fitting  here  to  acknowledge  the  several  favors  which 
I  have  received  from  many  correspondents  in  various  parts 
of  the  United  States,  also  some  few  in  England,  and  the 
Canadas,  who  have  contributed  valuable  information  and 
papers  relating  to  various  subjects  of  this  volume,  for  which 
I  hold  them  in  grateful  remembrance. 

LEWIS  F.  ALLEN. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y.,  August,  1872. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


WE  have  thought  it  necessary  to  illustrate  the  work  with  a  few  portraits  of 
animals  of  distinguished  reputation  in  their  times,  and  such  as  would  show  the 
comparative  merits  and  improvements  in  the  anatomy  and  style  of  the  Short-horns 
as  they  progressed  from  as  early  a  day  as  possible  down  to  a  recent  period.  The 
scarcity  of  portraits  of  the  earlier  animals  has  afforded  but  a  limited  opportunity 
to  make  selections.  We  have  wished  to  present  the  best  specimens  of  their  time, 
irrespective  of  any  particular  tribe  or  family  to  which  they  belonged,  and  only 
regret  that  the  portraits  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  are  restricted  to  the  herds  of 
so  few  breeders  ;  yet  they  were  animals  well  known  in  Short-horn  circles,  and 
whose  blood  courses  in  the  veins  of  very  many  herds  of  the  present  day.  They  are 
given  with  no  intention  to  claim  superiority  over  some  others  that  may  have  existed 
contemporary  with  them,  but  because  other  equally  good  portraits  could  not  be 
found.  We  place  them  in  the  order  of  time  at  which  they  lived : 

1.  DUCHESS,  red  and  white,  bred  by  Charles  Colling,  calved  in  1800,  got  by 

Daisy  bull  (186),  out  of ,  by  Favorite  (252), — by  Hubback  (319), — the 

Stanwick  (original  Duchess)  cow,  by  J.  Brown's  red  bull  (97).     At  7  years  old, 
milked  down,  and  thin  in  flesh.     Drawn  by  Weaver.     Plate  after  a  copy  by  Dalby. 
Page  13. 

2.  COMET  (155),  light  roan,  bred  by  Charles  Colling,  calved  in  1804,  got  by 
Favorite  (252),  out  of  Young  Phoenix,  by  Favorite  (252), — Phoenix,  by  Foljambe 
(263), — Lady  Maynard,  by  R.  Alcock's  bull  (19), — by  Jacob  Smith's  bull  (608), — by 
Jolly's  bull  (337).     At  6  years  old.     Drawn  by  Weaver.     Plate   after  a  copy  by 
Dalby.     Page  74. 

3.  KETTON  IST  (709),  red  and  white,  bred  by  Charles  Colling,  calved  in  1805, 
got  by  Favorite  (252),  out  of  Duchess,  by  Daisy  bull  (186),  etc.,  as  in  No.  2,  above. 
At  full  age.     Drawn  by  Weaver.     Plate  after  a  copy  by  Dalby.     Frontispiece. 

4.  THE  WHITE  HEIFER  THAT  TRAVELED,  bred  by  Robert  Colling,  calved  about 
the  year  1806,  got  by  Favorite  (252),  out  of  Favorite  cow,  by  Favorite  (252), — gr. 
dam,  by  Punch  (531).     At   full  age.     Drawn  by  Weaver.     Plate  after  a  copy  by 
Dalby.     Page  84. 

5.  DUCHESS  1ST,  red  and  white,  bred  by  Charles  Colling,  calved  in  1808,  got  by 

Comet  (155),  out  of ,  by  Favorite  (252), — Duchess,  by  Daisy  bull  (186), 

etc.,  as  in  No.  2,  above.    At  full  age.     Drawn  by  Dalby.     Page  125. 

6.  BELVEDERE  (1706),  roan,  bred  by  Mr.  Stephenson,  calved  in  1826,  got  by 
Waterloo  (2816),  out  of  Angelina  2d,  by  Young  Wynyard  (2859), — Angelina,  by 
Phenomenon  (491), — Anne  Boleyn,  by  Favorite  (252), — Princess,  by  Favorite  (252) 
[bred  by  Robert  Colling,  and  own  sister  to  his  White  bull  (151)], — by  Favorite  (252), 


Vlii  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

— by  Snowdon's  bull  (612), — by  Masterman's  bull  (422), — by  Harrison's  bull  (292), 
— bred  by  Mr.  Pickering.     At  8  years  old.     Drawn  by  Dalby.     Page  127. 

7.  DUCHESS  34TH,  mostly  red,  bred  by  Thomas  Bates,  calved  in  1832,  got  by 
Belvedere  (1706),  out  of  Duchess  2gth,  by  2d  Hubback  (1423), — Duchess  2Oth,  by 
2d  Earl  (1511), — Duchess  8th,  by  Marske  (418), — Duchess  2d,  by  Ketton  1st  (709), 
— Duchess  ist,  by  Comet  (155),  etc.,  as  in  No.  5,  above.     At  II  years  old,  milked 
dry,  and  left  hip  broken  down.     Drawn  by  Dalby.     Page  128. 

8.  DUKE  OF  NORTHUMBERLAND  (1941),  red  roan,  bred  by  Thomas  Bates,  calved 
in  1835,  got  by  Belvedere  (1706),  out  of  Duchess  34th,  by  Belvedere  (1706),  etc.,  as 
in  No.  7,  above.     At  8  years  old.     Drawn  by  Dalby.     Page  131. 

9.  NECKLACE  (twinned  with  light  roan  Bracelet),  mostly  red,  bred  by  John 
Booth,  Killerby,  calved  in  1837,  got  by  Priam  (2452),  out  of  Toy,  by  Argus  (759), — 
Vestal,  by  Pilot  (496), — Vestris,  by  Remus  (550), — Valentine,  by  Blucher  (82), — 
Countess,  by  Albion  (14), — by  Shakspeare  (582), — by  Easby  (232).     At  6  years  old. 
Drawn  by  Gauci.     Page  ill. 

10.  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  (21451),  roan,  bred  by  Richard  Booth,  calved  in 
1864,  got  by  Valasco  (15443),  out  °f  Campfollower,  by  Crown  Prince  (10087), — 
Vivandiere,  by  Buckingham  (3239), — Minette,  by  Leonard  (4210), — Young  Moss 
Rose,  by  Young  Matchem  (4422), — by  Priam  (2452), — by  Young  Alexander  (2979), 
— by  Pilot  (496).    At  4  years  old.     Drawn  by  Gauci.     Page  146. 

The  red  and  roan  shades  in  the  colors  of  the  plates  show  less  conspicuously  in 
lithograph  than  in  the  original  paintings,  for  which  allowance  must  be  made.  The 
artist,  Mr.  Page,  has  executed  them  with  great  fidelity  and  care. 

Further  notices  of  these  animals  will  be  found  on  the  pages  where  the  plates 
occur. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

First  Period  of  their  History — The  Second  Period — The  Cathedral  Cow — When 
began  the  Improvement — Progress  of  Improvement 13 

CHAPTER   II. 

The  Early  Breeders — Dates  and  Names  of  Noted  Animals — The  Colling  Brothers — 
Hubback — The  Stanwick,  or  Original  Duchess  —  Lady  Maynard  and  Young 
Strawberry — Foljambe — Charles  Ceiling's  Mode  of  Breeding — The  Durham 
Ox — Robert  Colling  and  his  Breeding 28 

CHAPTER   III. 

Were  the  Ceilings  the  Earliest  and  Chief  Improvers  of  the  Short-horns — Their 
Early  Cattle — The  Galloway  Cross — Berry's  Youatt  History — Charles  Ceiling's 
Final  Sale— Robert  Colling's  Sales  of  1818  and  1820— The  Collings'  Improve- 
ment    56 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Booth  Family  and  their  Short-horns — The  Studley  Herd— The  Killerby  Herd 
—The  Warlaby  Herd 95 

CHAPTER  V. 

Thomas  Bates — His  Short-horns  and  their  Breeding — The  Duchess  Tribe — The 
Matchem  Cow — Mr.  Bates'  other  Tribes — Colors  of  the  Bates  Herds — Sale  of 
Mr.  Bates'  Herd,  and  their  English  successors  —  Lord  Ducie's  Breeding  and 
Sales  ..  .118 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Mr.  Bates'  Influence  on  the  Short-horns — Did  he  Improve  them 144 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  English  Short-horn  Breeders  contemporary  with  the  Collings  and  their  imme- 
diate successors 148 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Short-horns  in  America — The  Gough  and  Miller  Importations  of  the  last  cen- 
tury— The  Patton  Stock — Various  other  Importations — The  Kentucky  Impor- 
tation of  1817 — Sundry  Importations  down  to  1830 155 


CHAPTER   IX. 

The  Later  Short-horn  Importations  into  various  States  by  different  associations  and 
individuals — Declension  of  Prices 178 


CHAPTER   X. 

Revival  of  the  Short-horns  in  America — Importations  in  rapid  succession  into  sev- 
eral different  States  by  individuals  and  associations  —  Canadian  Importations — 
The  Short-horns  as  Milkers  —  As  Flesh-producing  Animals — Vitality,  Longev- 
ity, and  Fertility — Colors  of  Short-horn  Noses — Bodily  Colors 193 

CHAPTER   XI. 

Exportations  of  American  Short-horns  to  England  and  Scotland — The  Style,  Figure 
and  Quality  which  should  represent  a  Perfect  Short-horn 222 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Pure  Short-horns — Herd  Books — Pedigrees — The  English  Herd  Book — The  Amer^ 
ican  Herd  Book 2300 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Progress  of  Short-horns  in  America — Have  they  Improved — English  and  American 
Herd  Book  Pedigrees — Notes  on  Breeding — Thorough-breds — Full-bloods — 
Conclusion 244 


PART    FIRST. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

FIRST  PERIOD  OF  THEIR  HISTORY. 

THE  origin  of  this  noble  race  of  cattle  is  obscure ;  but,  that  their 
lineage  is  ancient  there  can  be  no  question.  Modern  records — say 
within  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  years,  as  tradition  had  already  done 
for  several  hundred  years  previous — first  recognize  them  inhabiting 
the  counties  of  Northumberland,  Durham,  York,  and  Lincoln,  on  the 
north-eastern  coast  of  England,  and  the  country  more  immediately 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  river  Tees — the  dividing  line  between  Durham 
and  York — as  the  locality  where  the  more  signal  efforts  have  been 
made  in  their  cultivation  and  improvement. 

Why  it  is  that  the  histories  of  nations,  states,  and  peoples,  usually 
so  minute  in  what  relates  to  conquests,  government,  laws,  military 
and  naval  achievements,  arts,  and  the  general  condition  of  the  people, 
leave  out  valuable  minor  items  to  which  the  industry  of  the  popula- 
tion is  continuously  directed,  is  difficult  to  say,  other  than  the  histo- 
rians themselves  have  had  no  tastes  or  sympathies  in  common  with 
agricultural  pursuits;  or  perhaps  the  humbler  subjects  of  agricul- 
tural industry  were  esteemed  of  too  vulgar  and  menial  a  character  to 
attract  their  notice.  In  short,  domestic  animals  were  below  the 
"  dignity  of  history,"  while  the  dirty  intrigues  of  a  lascivious  monarch 
with  a  high-born  wanton,  or  of  a  court  favorite  with  an  attractive 
wench  of  plebeian  birth,  were  exalted  subjects  of  record ! 

From  researches  through  the  various  authorities  in  English  annals 
from-  the  time  that  England  had  a  recognized  history  at  all,  we  find 
no  mention  made  of  cattle,  as  distinguished  by  origin,  race,  or  breed. 
They  are  mentioned  as  domestic  animals,  simply,  furnishing  a  portion 
of  the  food  of  the  people,  and  articles  of  traffic,  and  there  all  allusion 
to  them  ends.  We  know  nothing  further  whatever  of  their  existence, 


14  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

use,  or  varieties  than  we  know  of  the  foxes,  hares  and  badgers,  in 
which  the  outskirt  lands  of  the  nobility  abounded.  We  have 
labored  descriptions  and  illustrations  of  the  costumes  of  the  people, 
their  amusements,  games,  tournaments — faithful  chronicles  of  the 
times,  no  doubt — but  not  a  word  of  their  domestic  animals,  save  now 
and  then  an  allusion  to  the  horses  of  the  realm,  but  of  them,  even, 
no  definite  idea  is  given  of  either  breed,  conformation,  or  their 
adaptation  to  different  uses. 

In  view  of  this  dearth  of  information  we  have  to  resort  somewhat 
to  conjecture,  and  that  conjecture  drawn  from  collateral  testimony, 
and  incidents  occasionally  cropping  out  through  historical  events. 
Until,  therefore,  we  can  strike  a  vein  of  information  with  apparent 
truth  and  probability  on  its  side,  we  must,  as  best  we  can,  grope 
through  the  clouds  of  tradition  mainly  for  an  earlier  account  of  the 
Short-horns. 

For  some  centuries  previous  to  the  advent  of  the  Normans  under 
William  the  Conqueror,  and  while  under  Saxon,  and  probably  the 
anterior  Roman  rule,  the  warlike  Scandinavians  of  Denmark,  Sweden 
and  Norway,  invaded  the  north-eastern  coasts  of  England,  compris- 
ing the  counties  which  we  have  named,  then  called  Northumbria,  and 
held  them  for  longer  or  shorter  terms  in  subjection.  The  Scandina- 
vians were  skilled  in  the  use  of  arms,  bold  navigators,  pirates,  both 
on  sea  and  land,  raiding  upon  all  the  weaker  peoples  which  they 
could  reach,  and  holding  them  subsidiary  to  their  own  power  and 
purposes.  With  all  these  peoples,  which,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
they  subjected  to  their  rule,  they  established  trade  and  commerce, 
and  interchanged  commodities,  for  they  were  as  enterprising  and 
sagacious  in  trade  as  they  were  daring  in  their  conquests  and  rob- 
beries. They  may  not  have  carried  away  prisoners  from  England 
to  their  own  lands,  but  more  or  less  of  their  adventurous  meni  set- 
tled themselves  and  made  homes  among  the  conquered  people,  mar- 
ried their  women,  and  the  children  became  Northumbrians  in  birth, 
habits  and  permanent  abode. 

At  the  time  of  the  Norman  conquest,  in  the  year  1066,  the  people 
of  Northumbria  presented  a  mixture  of  ancient  Britons,  Saxons  and 
Scandinavians,  in  blood,  name  and  identity  of  character.  Its  cli- 
mate was  the  most  rigorous  of  the  territory  lying  south  of  Scotland ; 
its  coast  looked  out  on  the  bleak  German  ocean ;  its  soil  was  moist, 
readily  worked,  rich  in  the  natural  elements  of  fertility,  and  emi- 
nently fitted  for  pasturage  and  the  production  of  the  better  grasses ; 
yet  its  agriculture,  like  all  the  northern  English  counties  of  that  day, 


FIRST    PERIOD    OF    THEIR    HISTORY.  15 

was  in  a  low  condition.  Its  laborers  were  inured  to  the  hardest  fare, 
and  the  rudest  of  homes.  The  invading  Danes  were  not  better  in 
their  own  homes  than  were  the  subdued  Saxons  of  Northumbria  in 
theirs,  and  between  them  both,  we  may  imagine  that  with  the  alternate 
struggles  of  invasion  on  one  side,  and  defense  or  submission  on  the 
other,  agriculture  held  but  a  meager  opportunity  for  improvement. 

Concurrent  with  their  forays  on  Northumbria,  the  Danes  extended 
their  raids  southward,  taking  possession  for  a  time  of  Holstein,  Utrecht, 
and  the  northerly  portion  of  Holland.  These  countries  they  held, 
as  they  did  north-eastern  England,  for  purposes  of  plunder,  trade 
and  political  advantage.  As  all  these  outlying  provinces  enjoyed  a 
milder  climate  and  a  more  productive  soil  than  their  own,  the  sea 
and  land  rovers  profited  largely  in  their  conquests,  and  extended 
their  commerce,  not  only  with  the  peoples  whose  homes  they  had 
usurped,  but  with  distant  countries  as  well.  Hence  they  waxed  rich 
and  powerful,  as  riches  and  power  were  then  considered.  Among 
the  prominent  articles  of  their  traffic  and  interchange  between  Den- 
mark and  the  provinces  over  which  they  held  their  fitful  sway,  was 
that  of  domestic  animals,  and  the  chief  of  these  were  neat  cattle. 

In  north-western  Europe,  and  all  along  the  coast  through  Sweden, 
Denmark,  and  southwardly  through  the 'subjugated  countries  towards 
Holland,  the  cattle  were  a  large,  raw-boned  race,  of  which  we  now 
know  little  beyond  what  the  ancient  chronicles  say  of  them,  and  as 
they  have  been  more  lately  known,  only  that  they  were  useful  beasts, 
strong  for  labor,  yielding  largely  of  milk,  coarse  in  flesh,  peculiar  in 
color,  and  short  in  the  horn.  Such  cattle,  or  those  near  akin  to  them, 
exist  in  those  countries  now.  It  may  well  be  supposed  that  the 
continental  cattle  were  frequently  carried  across  the  narrow  sea  sep- 
arating England  from  the  land  of  the  Danes  and  their  contiguous 
southern  neighbors,  and  that  they  became  a  permanent  stock  of  the 
country,  as  a  cognate  race  existed  in  the  Northumbrian  counties, 
when  the  first  dawnings  of  agricultural  advancement  opened  upon 
the  landholders  and  cultivators  of  that  region  some  centuries  after 
the  victorious  Norman  had  firmly  established  himself  on  the  English 
throne,  and  driven  the  Danes  from  the  possession  of  its  soil. 

For  many  years  after  their  invasion  and  conquest,  the  Normans 
encountered  much  hostility  before  the  stubborn  Saxons  and  Danes 
(the  latter  which  had  settled  among  them  now  become  incorporated 
with  the  others  in  a  common  nationality)  peacefully  submitted  to  the 
rigorous  yoke  which,  from  the  moment  he  had  secured  his  footing  on 
English  ground,  the  Conqueror  had  fastened  on  the  necks  of  the 


l6  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

ravaged  people.  Plundered  in  their  homes,  despoiled  of  their  lands 
and  chattels,  subjected  to  ignominious  servitude,  and  oftentimes 
struggling  for  life  itself,  the  Northumbrian  serfs,  even  when  peace- 
fully submissive  to  the  iron  rule  of  their  new  masters,  could  make 
but  little  progress  in  their  rude  agriculture,  or  rise  to  an  improved 
condition  of  life,  labor,  or  production. 

To  this  subjection  of  the  people  and  their  lands  to  their  new  law- 
givers, followed  in  succession  through  a  long  course  of  years,  the 
foreign  wars  of  the  kings  and  rulers,  heavy  taxation,  military  con- 
scriptions, the  petty  rivalries  of  the  nobles  among  themselves,  the 
rebellion  of  the  barons  against  the  despotism  of  their  monarchs, 
civil  wars,  religious  convulsions,  and  the  almost  numberless  turmoils 
incident  to  a  proud,  brave,  enterprising,  warlike,  yet  ignorant  people 
of  divers  races,  such  as  England,  by  the  intermarriages  and  social 
amalgamation  of  the  higher  classes  of  the  Saxon  and  Norman  blood, 
had  now  become.  For  several  centuries  the  common  people  were 
little  more  than  barbarians,  and  their  rulers  no  better  than  despots. 
Agricultural  progress  either  languished  or  barely  held  its  own.  The 
clothing  of  the  peasantry  and  laborers  was  partially  of  the  skins  of 
sheep  and  goats,  frequently  undressed,  or  sometimes  by  a  luxurious 
indulgence,  of  the  coarsest  cloth.  Their  habitations  were  covered 
with  thatch,  without  chimneys,  or  floors,  other  than  of  earth  or  tile. 
Their  beds  were  of  straw  or  grass;  their  food  of  the  coarsest  of 
grains,  and  meat  seldom.  Their  farm  stock  had  little  or  no  shelter 
beyond  what  the  woods  and  frequent  glens  afforded,  and  of  course 
were  subjected  to  the  inclement  vicissitudes  of  the  climate.  Yet 
the  barons,  having  monopolized  the  land,  lived  in  state,  indulging  in 
sumptuous  feasts  and  entertainments,  although  of  necessity  coarse  in 
their  kind,  while  the  clergy  and  monks,  appropriating  to  themselves 
the  chief  learning  of  the  times,  nestled  in  the  choicest  nooks  of  the 
territory,  levied  their  exactions  upon  the  surrounding  people,  and 
reared  their  vast  Cathedrals,  and  spacious,  comfortable  Monasteries, 
while  consoling  them  with  their  religious  services  and  ceremonies. 
The  royal  courts,  too,  were  more  luxurious  than  either  the  barons  or 
clergy,  and  although  great  in  administration  and  powerful  in  arms, 
were  more  or  less  degraded  in  life  and  morals.  Yet  among  all  these 
adverse  influences,  great  and  bright  men  in  court,  and  state,  and 
church,  arose  through  the  degradation  and  ignorance  around  them,  and 
gradually  worked  the  people  into  better  conditions  of  employment, 
progress  and  civilization. 


FIRST    PERIOD    OF    THEIR    HISTORY.  I/ 

The  necessities  of  the  great  landholders  began  at  last  to  lead  their 
attention  to  the  improvement  of  their  soils.  The  country  had  pro- 
gressed rapidly  in  population.  The  now  constituted  people  of  Eng- 
land, under  a  progressing  nationality,  had  become  a  mass  of  breeding 
humanity.  Human  life  had  long  been  cheap  in  the  sacrifices  which 
had  been  made  by  the  governing  classes,  as  well  among  themselves 
as  their  serfs,  during  the  wars,  both  foreign  and  civil,  and  also  in  the 
frequent  executions  at  the  hands  of  "justice,"  which  then  took  place 
for  even  paltry  offenses  committed  against  each  other  by  the  common 
people.  Yet  the  teeming  workers  at  home  filled  these  depleting 
gaps  more  rapidly  than  they  occurred,  and  far  beyond,  furnished  new 
mouths  for  consuming  the  products  of  the  soil  as  well  as  hands  to 
aid  in  its  development  Along  these  times  an  experimenter  and 
writer  in  agriculture  occasionally  turned  up.  "  The  Whole  Art  of 
Husbandry"  by  Barnaby  Googe,  was  published  in  the  year  1558  ; 
"Tussers  Five  Hundred  Points  of  Husbandry"  in  1562;  Sir  Hugh 
Platt's  "Jewell  House  of  Art  and  Nature"  in  1594;  Fitz-Herbert, 
Harrison,  and  some  others,  about  the  same  time  wrote  and  published 
limited  works  on  husbandry.  In  addition  to  these  more  humble 
authors,  illustrious  minds,  like  Bacon,  Raleigh,  and  an  occasional 
compeer  of  noble  birth  or  station  enlightened  the  people  with  progres- 
sive ideas  on  soils,  their  management,  and  articles  of  production. 

The  English  world  still  moved.  Yet  in  all  their  agricultural 
advancement  we  hear  nothing  of  improvement  in  neat  cattle,  until 
near  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  or  shortly  previous  to 
the  year  1720.  It  is  true  that  great  progress  had  been  made  in  culti- 
vating the  soil ;  wide  stretches  of  the  marshy  coast  along  the  shores 
of  Lincoln,  Cambridge  and  other  counties,  had  been  dyked  in  and 
reclaimed  from  the  sea.  Considerable  progress  in  science,  in  the 
arts,  in  trade,  and  various  departments  of  industry  had  been  devel- 
oped, but  with  a  strange  indifference  to  the  improvement  of  domestic 
animals,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  horse — as  he  was  indispen- 
sable in  both  war  and  luxury — little  attention  so  far  as  public  knowl- 
edge was  concerned,  had  been  given  to  either  cattle,  sheep  or  swine, 
except  what  was  acquired  in  a  few  widely  separated  localities ;  and 
even  those  improvements,  wherever  they  occurred,  attracted  little  or 
no  attention  from  writers  on  husbandry,  or  its  interests.  Yet  we  must 
suppose  that  intelligent  and  studious  minds  had  occasionally  been 
at  work  during  the  general  progress  in  agricultural  advancement, 
and  some  attention  paid  to  ameliorating  the  forms  and  condition  of 
neat  cattle ;  for  it  is  impossible  that  the  Short-horns,  like  the  fabled 


18  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT- HORNS. 

Minerva,  from  the  head  of  Jupiter,  should  have  burst  out  in  the  full 
proportions  of  shape,  color  and  condition,  at  the  time  we  first  hear 
of  them — about  the  year  1700 — from  the  coarse,  unimproved  herds 
of  previous  centuries. 

SECOND  PERIOD  OF  THE  SHORT-HORNS. 

In  the  preceding  rambling,  desultory,  and  (as  some  of  our  readers 
may  pronounce)  irrelevant  remarks,  have  .been  narrated  the  reasons 
why,  if  any  progress  had  been  made  in  the  improvement  of  the 
neat  cattle  of  England  through  past  centuries  down  to  nearly  the 
year  1700,  we  have  no  certain  evidences  of  the  fact  recorded  until 
a  comparatively  recent  date.  We  think  the  causes  enumerated  have 
been  sufficient  to  explain.  For  the  improvement  which  had  taken 
place,  tradition  (uncertain,  to  be  sure,  when  unaccompanied  with  sus- 
taining probabilities)  has  done  something  to  inform  us,  and  recorded 
observation  since,  has  done  much  more.  A  period  of  general  quie- 
tude in  England,  with  only  occasional  interruptions,  since  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Stuarts  from  the  throne,  in  the  year  1688,  had  given  an 
unwonted  impulse  to  the  thrift  and  progress  of  every  department  of 
her  industry,  advancing  her  to  a  high  position  among  the  leading 
powers  of  Europe,  both  in  commerce,  manufactures,  and  the  exten- 
sion of  her  distant  colonies.  As  a  matter  of  necessity  her  agriculture 
had  been  largely  developed  and  improved,  and  with  that  improvement 
no  doubt  much  attention  had  been  paid  to  the  better  quality  and 
value  of  her  domestic  animals.  To  the  various  breeds  of  cattle 
which  England  possessed,  down  to  about  the  period  named,  we  shall 
pay  no  attention  other  than  the  Short-horns,  the  object  of  this  trea- 
tise, argument,  history,  or  whatever  it  may  be  called,  being  solely 
relating  to  them,  as  they  existed  anterior  to  their  appearance  at  that 
time,  and  their  condition  through  various  stages  of  advancement  to 
the  present  day. 

The  work  we  have  undertaken,  down  to  the  period  of  our  own  mem- 
ory and  observation,  must,  of  course,  chiefly  consist  of  a  compilation 
from  the  writings  and  records  of  others,  and  from  these  will  be  given 
as  faithful  a  transcript  as  possible,  throwing  out  matter  of  doubtful 
authority,  and  admitting  all  which  has  the  semblance  of  fact  and 
probability.  Exact  facts,  in  all  cases,  cannot  be  ascertained ;  but  an 
approximation  to  facts  may  be,  and  such  we  shall  strive  to  give,  with- 
out alteration  or  color.  Yet,  to  give  the  semblance  of  probability  to 
what  may  be  said,  the  observant  reader  must  at  once  admit,  and 


SECOND    PERIOD    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS.          19 

yield  to  the  theory  that  improvement  from  a  defective  organization 
to  almost  perfection  in  the  development  of  their  qualities  in  nearly 
all  kinds  of  domestic  animals,  is  measurably  within  the  power  of 
an  intelligent  breeder,  who,  by  a  sort  of  intuition,  or  through  a  long 
course  of  study  and  observation,  is  also  a  physiologist.  Without 
such  admission — that  is  to  say — the  capability  of  improvement  by 
careful  breeding,  food  and  treatment  of  an  inferior  creature  through 
a  course  of  successive  generations  in  its  offspring  into  a  superior  one, 
all  discussion  of  the  subject  is  worthless. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  our  first  field  of  observation,  for  a 
time,  will  relate  solely  to  the  counties  of  England  comprising  the 
ancient  Northumbria,  once  ravaged  and  occupied  by  the  Danes. 
Let  us  start  fair.  We  cannot,  as  we  pass,  well  quote,  in  particular, 
all  the  several  authorities  from  which  we  draw  our  earlier  Short-horn 
history ;  for  many  of  them  are  so  fragmentary  in  their  accounts  that 
no  continuous  narrative  in  time  or  place  can  be  made  from  either 
one  alone.  The  principal  sources  from  which  we  date  our  several 
items  of  history  will  be  hereafter  acknowledged. 

A  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  or  about  the  year  1730,  there  was 
a  tradition  floating  among  the  Short-horn  breeders  living  in  the  coun- 
ties of  York  and  Durham,  near  the  river  Tees,  that  a  breed  of  cattle 
had,  many  centuries  back,  existed  within  their  borders — chiefly  in 
Holderness,  a  district  of  Yorkshire — much  resembling  in  size,  shape 
and  color,  many  of  the  cattle  of  Denmark,  Holstein  and  north- 
western Europe,  at  that  day.  At  what  particular  time  they  were  first 
found  in  England,  or  who  imported  them,  was  unknown.  They 
were  of  extraordinary  size;  had  coarse  heads,  with  short,  stubbed 
horns;  heavy  necks;  high,  coarse  shoulders;  flat  sides,  the  chine 
falling  back  of  the  shoulders ;  the  hips  wide ;  the  rumps  long ;  the 
thighs  thick,  and  cloddy.  Yet  with  all  these  undesirable  points 
which  rendered  them  large  feeders,  and  late  to  mature,  they  took  on 
flesh  rapidly,  and  fattened  into  heavy  carcasses.  Their  flesh,  how- 
ever, was  coarse-grained,  dark  in  color,  and  less  savory  to  the  taste 
than  that  of  smaller  breeds.  Their  colors  were  light  dun,  or  yellow 
red,  deep  red,  pure  white,  red  and  white  in  patches,  roan  mixed  of 
both  red  and  white,  and  no  uniformity  in  the  laying  on  of  either  one 
of  those  colors,  or  their  admixtures,  the  colors  prevailing,  as  acci- 
dent might  govern.  The  cows  were  large  milkers,  yielding  quantities, 
with  generous  feed,  beyond  any  others  yet  known.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  these  animals  were  the  direct  descendants  from  the 
cattle  brought  over  from  Denmark  previous  to  the  conquest.  Some 


20  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

of  that  race  of  cattle  existed  in  Holderness  within  the  memories  of 
men  yet  living,  and  we,  ourself,  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  saw  several 
animals  of  a  direct  importation  into  this  country  from  that  district 
in  Yorkshire,  which  were  akin  to  the  description  above  given. 

But,  to  put  at  rest,  so  far  as  an  illustration  of  art  can  do  it,  the 
question  of  the  early  existence  of  the  Short-horn  race  in  England, 
we  extract  a  bit  of  history  recorded  in  the  eighth  volume  of  our  own 
Short-horn  Herd  Book : 

"  It  will  be  recollected  that  in  Vol.  2,  p.  55,  in  narrating  the  ancient 
lineage  of  the  Short-horns,  a  sculptured  cow  on  the  wall  of  one  of 
the  towers  of  the  great  Cathedral  in  Durham,  is  mentioned.  The 
sculpture  is  that  of  a  cow  and  two  milkmaids,  chiseled  in  light  cream- 
colored  stone,  of  nearly  life  size,  from  living  models,  and  set  up  in  a 
broad  niche  of  one  of  the  towers  of  the  Cathedral.  The  sketch 
from  which  the  engraving  is  cut,  was  taken  at  our  request  by  Mr. 
John  R.  Page,  of  Sennett,  Cayuga  county,  N.  Y.,  when  on  a  visit 
there  in  September,  1867.  As  to  the  reason  for  a  statue  of  the  cow 
and  milkmaids  occupying  such  a  singular  place,  the  following  extract 
from  a  letter  to  us  from  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  in  August,  1867,  will  explain. 
He  was  a  few  weeks  in  advance  of  Mr.  Page  in  his  visit,  and  was  not 
aware  at  the  time  that  the  latter  had  crossed  the  Atlantic : 

"  I  arrived  at  Durham,  last  evening,  and  have  spent  the  whole 
forenoon  of  to-day,  in  and  about  the  Cathedral.  It  is  a  magnificent 
old  stone  pile,  and  including  the  Lady  Chapel,  extending  from  its 
west  end,  is  upwards  of  five  hundred  feet  long  and  two  Hundred  feet 
broad.  It  stands  on  an  open  place  of  several  acres,  the  leveled  top 
of  a  rocky  hill,  nearly  encircled  at  its  base  by  the  river  Wear.  The 
building  thus  shows  to  great  advantage ;  and,  from  its  elevated  site, 
you  have  extensive  views  on  either  side  of  the  surrounding  pictur- 
esque country.  The  quaint  old  city  lies  chiefly  in  the  valley,  a  few 
only  of  its  streets  climbing  up  towards  the  Cathedral,  and  a  large 
ancient  castle — now  converted  to  a  University — also  crowning  the 
cliffs  on  the  same  plateau,  several  hundred  feet  north  of  it. 

"  The  statue  of  the  cow  you  desired  me  to  inquire  about  when  I 
left  New  York,  occupies  a  broad  arched  niche  in  the  north-east  tower 
of  the  Cathedral,  twenty  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  the  surround- 
ing church-yard.  The  cow  is  an  unmistakable  Short-horn  all  over, 
the  legs  excepted,  which  the  learned  librarian  of  the  Cathedral,  the 
Rev.  James  Raine,  informed  me,  were  chiseled  itnnaturally  coarse,  by 
fault  alone  of  the  sculptor ;  otherwise  it  is  a  tolerable  representation 
of  a  good  animal.  The  two  attendant  milkmaids  in  the  group  are 


SECOND    PERIOD    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS.          21 

quite  characteristic.  The  style  of  the  cow  is  that  of  long-gone  years, 
when  the  Short-horns  were  less  refined  than  now.  She  is  represented 
in  moderate  condition,  with  full  udder  and  large  milk  veins,  just  as 
one  would  appear  when  yielding  a  full  flow  of  milk.  The  present 
statue  is  comparatively  modern,  being  a  copy  of  the  original,  which 
was  taken  down  and  too  much  broken  to  be  replaced  when  the  tower 
was  repaired,  between  the  years  1790  and  1800,  as  near  as  I  could 
ascertain.  The  Cathedral  was  finished  about  the  year  1300,  when 
the  original  design  was  probably  sculptured  and  set.  The  figures,  it 


will  be  observed,  are  altogether  disproportioned,  the  maids  being  too 
high  and  the  cow  too  low  in  stature.  It  will  also  be  seen  that  parts 
of  the  cow  have  been  mutilated,  a  part  of  the  tail  and  two  of  the 
teats  broken  off. 


22  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

"  In  regard  to  the  curious  old  monkish  legend,  of  finding  a  peace- 
ful rest  here  at  last  for  the  bones  of  St.  Cuthbert,  the  patron  Saint  of 
Durham  Cathedral,  it  is  of  such  length,  and  so  variously  told,  that  it 
would  exhaust  your  patience  to  follow  it  up  in  all  its  twistings  and 
turnings.  I  will  therefore  give  you  the  substance  of  it,  condensed 
from  what  I  am  informed  is  the  most  reliable  account : 

"  Know,  then,  that  the  mighty  St.  Cuthbert,  famed  for  royal  de- 
scent, and  many  and  great  virtues,  died  so  long  ago  as  the  2oth  of 
the  calend  of  March,  Anno  Domini,  687,  and  was  buried  in  Holy 
Island,  a  meet  place  indeed  for  so  worthy  and  sanctified  a  man. 
Here  his  body  rested  in  peace  for  the  space  of  two  centuries,  when 
Bishop  Eardulphus,  and  the  Abbot  Eadred,  fearing  that  it  would  be 
disturbed  in  the  terrible  devastations  which  the  Danes  and  other 
ruthless  pagans  began  to  commit  in  the  neighborhood,  exhumed  the 
remains,  and  carried  them,  for  re-interment,  to  Cuneagestre,  sit- 
uated a  few  miles  from  Dunholme,  (now  Durham,)  where  they 
remained  one  hundred  and  thirteen  years,  till  the  dreadful  pagan  war 
had  nearly  ended.  Bishop  Aldwinus  then  removed  the  holy  body  of 
St.  Cuthbert  to  Ripon,  in  Yorkshire,  to  lay  it  by  the  side  of  another 
famous  holy  body,  namely,  that  of  St.  Winfred,  who  was  buried  in 
the  renowned  Cathedral  of  that  place.  But  after  four  months  from 
this  time,  the  Danish  forays  having  entirely  ceased,  it  was  determined 
to  carry  St.  Cuthbert  back  to  Cuneagestre,  and  re-inter  him  where  he 
had  remained  so  peacefully  before  for  upwards  of  a  century.  In 
bearing  him  thither,  all  at  once,  at  a  place  called  Wardenlawe,  Bishop 
Aldwinus  and  his  monks  were  stayed  in  their  progress,  and  with  all 
their  force  could  not  remove  the  body  any  farther,  for  it  seemed  fas- 
tened to  the  ground.  At  this  strange  and  unforeseen  accident,  they 
were  greatly  astonished,  and  their  hearts  deeply  exercised;  where- 
upon they  fasted  and  prayed  three  whole  days  with  great  devotion, 
to  know  by  revelation  from  God,  what  to  do  with  the  holy  body.  At 
the  end  of  this  time  it  was  revealed  to  Eadmer,  one  of  the  most 
virtuous  of  the  monkish  brotherhood,  that  St.  Cuthbert  should  be 
carried  to  Dunholme,  where  he  was  to  be  received  as  his  final  resting 
place.  But  now  came  the  great  difficulty,  for  not  one  of  the  monks 
knew  where  Dunholme  lay.  Yet  trusting  to  Providence  to  indicate 
it  to  them  in  some  way,  they  took  up  the  body  again,  and  with  con- 
fiding hearts  proceeded  on  their  journey.  Presently  they  overheard 
a  woman  calling  to  another  whom  she  met,  that  her  cow  had  strayed 
away  and  was  lost,  and  asked  if  she  had  seen  her.  *  Yes,'  was  the 
reply,  'just  beyond,  in  Dunholme.'  This  was  a  happy  and  heavenly 


WHEN  -THE    IMPROVEMENT    BEGAN.  23 

sound  to  the  distressed  Bishop  Aldwinus  and  his  brethren,  who 
thereby  had  intelligence  that  their  journey's  end  was  at  hand. 
Being  guided  thither  by  these  women,  they  at  once  constructed  a 
little  church  of  wands  and  branches,  wherein  to  lay  their  Saint  till  a 
larger  and  more  solid  building  could  be  raised  to  enshrine  him.  This 
was  soon  done  by  the  erection  of  a  Cathedral  of  moderate  size,  which 
in  the  year  1093  was  taken  down,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  present 
magnificent  Durham  Cathedral  was  then  laid.  After  being  finished, 
in  gratitude  to  the  milkmaids  and  cow,  by  whose  means  the  final  rest- 
ing place  for  the  holy  body  of  St.  Cuthbert  had  been  found,  their 
statues  were  placed  in  a  conspicuous  niche  of  the  north-east  tower, 
where  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  be  allowed  to  remain  as  long  as  this 
mighty  fane  shall  stand,  whose  foundations,  in  accordance  with  the 
instructions  to  us  of  scripture,  have  been  laid  upon  a  rock.  " 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  more  of  the  early  establishment  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  present  Short-horn  race  in  the  north-eastern  counties 
(Northumbria)  of  England,  for  some  centuries  occupied  by  the  Danes 
before  the  conquest. 

WHEN  BEGAN  THE  IMPROVEMENT  IN  SHORT-HORNS,  x 

It  has  been  asserted  by  some  English  cattle  writers  that  it  was 
early  after  the  year  1700  that  the  improvement  of  their  cattle  was 
begun  by  the  breeders,  and  that  such  improvement  was  aided  by  the 
importation  of  a  bull  or  bulls  from  Holland.  This  assertion,  how- 
ever, is  merely  a  conjecture.  No  official  record  of  the  introduction 
of  any  such  bull  or  bulls  has  been  found ;  and  as  no  evidence  of 
any  such  occurrence  being  even  probable  has  been  authentically 
recorded  by  revenue  officials  along  the  eastern  coast  of  England  in 
the  counties  where  such  importation  would  have  been  made,  if  at  all, 
in  a  search  extending  near  a  century  back  of  1750,  the  conjecture  or 
supposition  of  the  introduction  of  the  Dutch  bulls  may  be  not  only 
doubted,  but  denied.*  Indeed,  no  positive  instance  of  any  such  im- 
portation is  asserted  by  the  cattle  historians  of  that  day,  and  the 
evidence  of  such  being  the  fact  was  only  hearsay.  Aside  from  this 
negative  testimony  to  the  contrary,  a  statute  of  Parliament  enacted 
in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Charles  II.  (1666),  positively  forbade  the 
importation  of  cattle  from  abroad  into  England,  and  that  statute  was 
strictly  enforced  until  the  year  1801,  a  time  fifty  years  or  more  sub- 
sequent to  the  pretended  importation  of  any  bulls  or  cows  from 
Holland.  We  might,  from  documents  now  before  us,  go  into  a 

*  "  Youatt's  Cattle  "—American  Edition— Article  Short-horns. 


24  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

labored  statement  of  the  pro  and  con  assertions  relating  to  such  im- 
portations; but  as  nothing  positive,  beyond  tradition,  conjecture, 
hearsay,  or  supposition  has  been  advanced  to  establish  the  fact  of 
such  importation,  and  the  act  of  Parliament  and  the  Custom  records 
positively  deny  it,  further  remark  is  unnecessary. 

To  account  for  so  many  Short-horns  being  white  in  color,  some  of 
the  cattle  writers  have  asserted  that  this  feature  came  from  the  wild 
white  cattle  in  the  parks  of  Chillingham  in  Northumberland,  and 
Craven  in  Yorkshire,  which  had,  almost  from  time  immemorial,  run 
in  enclosures  there,  wild  and  untamable,  as  buffaloes.  Aside  from 
a  likeness  in  color,  these  wild  cattle  had  hardly  a  feature  in  common 
with  the  Short-horns.  They  were  high-horned,  black-nosed,  light  of 
body,  long  of  limb,  altogether  opposite  to  the  others.  The  supposi- 
tion that  the  white  color  in  the  Short-horns  was  derived  from  the 
wild  race  is  but  pretension.  On  the  contrary,  there  were,  and  still 
are,  white  cattle  in  Denmark.  It  is,  and  has  ever  been,  a  legitimate 
color  in  the  Short-horn  race. 

Another  fact  may  be  asserted,  even  admitting  that  either  the  Dutch 
or  the  wild  blood  had  been  crossed  into  the  original  Danish  blood, 
the  period  at  which  it  took  place  was  so  long  anterior  to  the  time  of 
the  writers  who  claimed  it,  that  even  then  scarcely  a  hundredth  part 
of  those  bloods  could  be  traced  into  the  good  Short-horn  cattle  of 
their  day,  and  so  innnitesimally  small  could  it  be  now,  that  fractions 
can  hardly  compute  it. 

Thus,  the  claim  of  the  Dutch  blood,  and  the  origin  of  the  white 
color  of  the  wild  cattle  in  the  Short-horns,  by  these  writers,  may 
be  dismissed  as  apocryphal.  So  late  as  the  year  1780,  more 
than  ninety  years  ago,  as  related  on  good  authority,  a  tradition 
was  then  current  among  the  cattle  breeders  of  Durham  and  York- 
shire, that  for  two  hundred  years  previous,  running  back  to  1580, 
there  had  existed  a  race  of  superior  Short-horns  on  the  Yorkshire 
estates  of  the  Earls  and  Dukes  of  Northumberland,*  one  of  the 
most  ancient  families  among  the  nobles  of  England.  Their  family 
name  was  Percy,  and  the  Barony  of  Percy  was  founded  in  the  year 
1299.  The  family  through  its  successive  Barons,  Earls 'and  Dukes, 
was  rich,  powerful,  and  influential.  Located  near  the  Scottish  bor- 
der, and  subjected  to  the  wild  raids  of  the  northern  clansmen,  they 

*  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  in  the  year  1841,  soon  after  his  return  from  England,  where  he  had  spent 
some  weeks  in  the  Short-horn  districts,  informed  us  that  in  Durham  an  ancient  record  remains, 
showing  that  these  cattle,  in  great  excellence,  existed  four  hundred  years  ago,  say  in  1440 ;  but 
what  the  standard  of  excellence  in  that  remote  day  was,  is  now  difficult  to  know! 


WHEN    THE    IMPROVEMENT    BEGAN.  25 

were  brave  by  instinct,  warlike  by  necessity,  enterprising  by  educa- 
tion, rich  by  inheritance.  Their  estates  were  vast,  and  to  their  ear- 
lier grants  from  the  Crown,  they  added  largely  both  by  purchase  and 
marriage.  They  had  the  means  to  apply  the  agricultural  improvements 
of  the  generations  through  which  they  had  passed,  and  no  doubt 
many  of  the  heads  of  the  family  had  the  sagacity  to  adopt  them. 
Among  those  improvements  none  were  more  probable,  as  theirs  was 
eminently  a  grazing  country,  than  that  their  attention  had  been  turned 
to  their  neat  cattle.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
title  of  Earl  of  Northumberland  became  extinct  by  the  death  of  the 
last  male  heir  of  the  Percy  family.  The  "proud  Duke  of  Somerset," 
as  history  records  him,  had  married  the  daughter  then  representing 
the  Northumberland  title  and  estates.*  The  issue  of  the  marriage 
was  only  a  daughter,  and  she  a  Percy  on  the  side  of  her  mother. 
This  daughter  married,  Sir  Hugh  Smithson, 'and  having  children, 
Sir  Hugh,  in  the  year  1766,  was  raised  to  the  peerage,  with  the  title 
of  Duke  of  Northumberland.  "So  fond  was  he  of  his  Short-horns 
that  his  peers  quizzingly  dubbed  him  'the  Yorkshire  grazier.'  He 
was  in  the  habit  of  weighing  his  cattle,  and  the  food  they  ate,  so  as 
to  ascertain  the  improvement  they  made  for  the  food  consumed." 
Sir  Hugh's  active  life  was  about  midway  and  later  in  the  years  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 

A  hundred  years  earlier  than  the  time  of  Sir  Hugh,  there  existed 
fine  stocks  of  Short-horn  cattle  in  Durham  and  Yorkshire.  "  The 
Aislabies,  residents  of  Studley  Park,  had  very  fine  cattle  in  the  seven- 
teenth century. f  The  Blacketts,  of  Newby  Hall,  in  Northumberland, 


*  An  anecdote  is  thus  related  of  the  u  proud  Duke  "  :  His  Percy  wife  dying  early,  he  was 
again  married  to  a  lady  of  less  rank  in  the  peerage.  The  Duke  being  one  day  closely  engaged  in 
his  room,  looking  over  some  important  papers,  his  wife  stepped  softly  up  behind  and  tapped  him 
familiarly  on  the  shoulder.  He  suddenly  turned  around  and  with  a  severe  expression  exclaimed, 
"  Madam,  your  familiarity  is  altogether  inopportune.  Recollect  that  my  first  wife  was  a  Percy  !  " 

t  In  a  letter  to  us  from  our  brother,  the  late  Richard  L.  Allen,  of  New  York,  (a  warm  admirer 
of  Short-horn  cattle,)  when  in  Yorkshire,  Eng.,  August,  1869,  he  writes  of  a  visit  to  Studley: 

"  I  spent  a  few  hours  at  Studley  Park,  attracted  thither  by  the  ruins  of  Fountain's  Abbey.  Its 
graceful,  undulating  and  massive  old  trees  ;  one  section  of  long,  natural  and  now  decaying  oaks, 
of  great  circumference,  and  low  but  wide-spreading  tops ;  another  of  immense  beeches,  which 
are  of  a  different  species  from  ours,  tall  and  very  wide-spread,  and  with  drooping  branches,  which 
sometimes  lie  on  the  ground,  fifty  feet  distant  from  the  trunk  ;  and  then  a  stately  chestnut  in  full 
bloom  ;  double  rows  of  the  lime  and  elm,  almost  as  fine  as  the  beeches,  and  many  firs  of  stalwart 
size,  give  to  the  park  a  great  attraction. 

"  I  asked  the  guide  if  there  was  any  herdsman  who  could  tell  me  about  the  cattle,  and  he  said 
there  was  none.  I  presume  the  interest  in  the  Short-horns  on  the  estate  died  with  Mr.  Aislabie. 
His  father  was  originally  a  private  country  gentleman,  who  became  Lord  Chancellor,  and  inher- 
ited the  estate  from  the  Mallorys,  who  owned  it  through  several  generations,  his  mother  being 
the  last  heir.  His  son,  William,  who  was  in  Parliament  sixty  years,  was  the  great  improver  of 


26  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

paid  great  attention  to  Short-horn  cattle  at  the  same  time  with  the 
Aislabies.  Portraits  of  these  animals  were  occasionally  taken  and 
hung  up  to  adorn  the  entrance  of  the  hall ;  but  when  the  noble  resi- 
dence passed  out  of  their  hands  those  pictures  were  sold.  We  should 
hope  that  they  yet  exist  in  some  old  curiosity  shop,  and  if  so,  and 
can  be  found,  we  shall  then  have  a  definite  idea  of  what  one  family 
of  ancient  Short-horns  were."* 

There  can  be  no  question,  as  our  following  narrative  will  show, 
that  many  valuable  Short-horns,  descended  from  and  largely  im- 
proved in  appearance  and  quality  over  the  ancient  race,  then  existed 
in  those  counties,  and  were  distributed  in  the  hands  of  many  differ- 
ent breeders.  To  what  degrees  of  excellence  they  had  then  attained 
we  do  not  know,  nor  do  we  know  but  a  portion  of  the  names  of  those 
several  breeders ;  but  at  a  later  day,  when  their  cattle  had  assumed 
a  consequence  and  celebrity  sufficient  to  attract  the  attention  of 
agricultural  writers  a  hundred  years  ago,  they  were  chronicled  in 
the  books  and  agricultural  surveys  of  their  neighborhoods  as  of 
extraordinary  value,  and  remarkable  specimens  of  their  race.  The 
cows  were  described  as  large  milkers,  and  the  bullocks  as  attaining 
a  great  weight  of  carcass,  and  extraordinary  productions  of  tallow. 

Aside  from  the  herds  on  the  Yorkshire,  Durham  and  Northumber- 
land estates,  we  have  a  few  names,  of  the  then  conspicuous  Short-horn 
breeders  in  the  earlier  part,  or  before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  (1750.)  Among  them  are  Mr.  Milbank,  of  Barningham,  Sir 
William  St.  Quintin,  of  Scampston,  Sir  James  Pennyman,  of  York- 
shire, and  others  of  less  noble  rank,  showing  that  the  attention  of 
some  of  the  most  respectable  landholders  was  alive  to  the  improve- 
ment of  their  cattle.  It  is  recorded  that  Mr.  Milbank  bred  and  fed 
a  five  year  old  ox  which,  when  slaughtered,  the  four  quarters  weighed 
2104  pounds,  the  tallow  224  pounds,  and  the  hide  151  pounds.  Also, 


the  grounds  and  estate,  and  I  presume  was  the  one  who  did  so  much  for  the  Short-horns.  On 
his  death  the  property  went  to  his  co-heir  and  relative,  Mrs.  Allanson,  and  on  her  death,  in  1803, 
to  her  niece,  Mrs.  Lawrence,  and  on  her  death,  in  1854,  to  the  present  Earl  De  Grey,  now  a  mem- 
ber of  Gladstone's  Cabinet,  who,  although  a  man  of  mark  in  his  way,  I  suspect  cares  very  little 
for  country  life  or  the  improvement  of  his  estate,  as  he  resides  on  it  but  seldom,  and  his  neighbors 
have  little  to  say  of  him  in  this  respect,  as  they  had  of  the  Aislabies  and  their  lady  successors." 

The  above  mentioned  Earl  De  Grey  was  one  of  the  late  "Joint  High  Commission,"  who  nego- 
tiated the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  England  at  Washington,  in  the  year  1871. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  descendants  of  the  once  noble  Short-horns  which  ranged  over  that 
lordly  domain,  should  not  still  occupy  the  ground  of  their  progenitors,  which  they  long  ago  graced 
in  their  picturesque  colors  and  comely  proportions.  A  poetic  charm  still  hangs  about  the  atmos- 
phere of  Studley,  coupled  with  the  once  aristocratic  presence  of  its  Short-horns. — L.  F.  A. 

*  A.  B.  Allen,  in  American  Agriculturist,  A.  D.  1841. 


PROGRESS    OF    IMPROVEMENT.  2/ 

a  cow  from  Mr.  Milbank's  stock,  afterwards  belonging  to  Mr.  Sharter, 
of  Chilton,  which,  when  slaughtered,  at  twelve  years  old,  having  pro- 
duced several  calves,  her  quarters  weighed  1540  pounds.  She  was 
daughter  to  the  celebrated  "Studley  bull"  (626),  he  being  calved  in 
the  year  1737. 

This  brings  us  forward  to  a  period  at  which  some  intelligent  ink- 
ling is  had  of  the  existence  of  Short-horn  cattle  in  the  hands  of 
known  breeders,  and  of  an  excellence  in  style,  weight  and  quality 
commanding  the  attention  of  agricultural  historians,  and  at  about 
what  date  the  known  ancestors  of  our  later  Short-horn  tribes,  or  fam- 
ilies can,  with  a  considerable  degree  of  certainty,  trace  their  lineage. 
It  is  possible  that  some  errors,  both  of  fact  and  inference,  may  have 
crept  into  the  various  accounts  in  those  early  days  of  Short-horn 
breeding;  but  we  have  sufficient  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the 
race,  and  the  lines  in  which  they  had  descended,  down  to  the  year 
1750.  Soon  after  that  time  records  began  to  be  kept  of  their  lineage, 
as  purity  of  blood  was  considered  of  vital  consequence. 

The  colors  of  the  cattle  in  those  days  were  red,  of  different  shades, 
red  and  white,  pure  white,  frequently  white  on  the  body  with  roan 
necks  and  heads,  and  roan  of  red  and  white  intermixed  over  the 
body,  or  in  patches,  with  either  more  of  the  white  or  of  the  red  pre- 
vailing, as  now.  What  was  their  exact  quality,  style  or  symmetry,  as 
compared  with  the  choice  Short-horns  of  the  present  time,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  say,  as  we  have  no  accurate  portraits  of  them ;  but  that  they 
combined  the  main  points  of  excellence  belonging  to  the  race  as  now 
recognized,  and  in  which  still  higher  improvements  over  them  have 
been  made  in  the  cattle  of  later  years,  we  can  have  little  doubt. 

Thus,  we  have  seen  the  Short-horns  from  the  ancient  race  existing 
in  Northumbria  anterior  to  its  conquest  by  William  of  Normandy — 
otherwise  the  Conqueror — within  a  few  years  after  his  landing  at 
Hastings  in  the  year  1066,  brought  down  through  a  series  of  seven 
hundred  years,  steadily  improving,  with  the  progress  of  the  English 
people  in  their  agricultural  advancement  into  a  condition  of  excel- 
lence then  unequaled,  probably,  by  any  contemporary  race  of  cattle 
in  the  British  islands  or  the  neighboring  continent,  and  that  excellence 
attained  through  their  own  blood  alone,  uncontaminated  by  any 
foreign  element,  or  if  occasionally  so,  to  such  small  degree  as  to  be 
unrecognized  in  the  predominating  merits  of  the  original  race. 


28  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER     II. 

THE   EARLY   BREEDERS — DATES   AND   NAMES   OF   NOTED 

ANIMALS. 

ARRIVING  at  a  point  of  time  about  the  year  1750,  or  a  little  later, 
we  find  the  Short-horns  a  recognized  breed,  and  that  great  pains  had 
been  taken  with  their  cultivation  by  intelligent  landholders,  as  well 
as  a  dissemination  of  their  blood  into  the  hands  of  enterprising  tenant 
farmers.  Such  we  learn  from  the  records  of  agricultural  writers 
through  the  later  years  of  the  last  century,  and  the  earlier  ones  of 
the  present.  We  now  proceed  to  a  broader  field  of  operation,  and  a 
more  intimate  discussion  of  their  merits  in  the  possession  of  breed- 
ers, by  name,  as  well  as  of  noted  animals,  then  individually  known 
and  recorded. 

The  field  of  operation  is  still  the  ancient  Northumbria,  the  most 
active  movements  are  within  the  counties  of  York  and  Durham,  in 
and  about  the  valley  of  the  Tees.  From  the  years  1730  to  1780, 
many  eminent  breeders  are  named,  and  among  them,  besides  those 
already  mentioned,  are  Sharter,  Pickering,  Stephenson,  Wetherell, 
Maynard,  Dobison,  Charge,  Wright,  Hutchinson,  Robson,  Snowdon, 
Waistell,  Richard  and  William  Barker,  Brown,  Hall,  Hill,  Best,  Wat- 
son, Baker,  Thompson,  Jackson,  Smith,  Jolly,  Masterman,  Wallace, 
Robertson,  and  some  others.  These  names  we  find  as  breeders  of 
the  earliest  cattle  whose  names  and  pedigrees  are  recorded  in -the 
first  volume  of  the  English  Herd  Book.  It  may  be  well  to  know 
that  as  this  Herd  Book  was  not  published  until  the  year  1822,  (some 
thirty  to  forty  years  after  many  of  the  names  we  have  mentioned  had 
left  the  stage  of  active  life,)  tradition,  and  the  memory  of  men  then 
living,  as  well  as  written  records  of  their  predecessors,  were  the 
authorities  on  which  the  lineage  of  the  earlier  animals  were  admitted 
to  its  pages. 

Confining  the  present  relation  to  a  period  anterior  to  the  year  1780, 
the  earliest  named  animal  on  record  is  "Studley  bull"  (£26),  "red 
and  white,  bred  by  Mr.  Sharter,  of  Chilton."  This  is  all  the  Herd 
Book  says  of  him.  He  was  calved  in  1737,  and  of  the  Barningham 


STUDLEY    BULL.  29 

(Milbank)  stock,  which  came  from  Studley,  in  Yorkshire,  where  they 
had  existed  for  many  years.  He  is  described,  by  one  who  often  saw 
him,  as  having  possessed  wonderful  girth,  and  depth  of  fore  quarters, 
very  short  legs,  a  neat  frame,  and  light  offal.  He  was  the  grandsire  of 
Dalton  Duke  (188).  This  latter  bull  was  bred  by  Mr.  Charge,  and 
sold  by  him  at  the  then  high  price  of  fifty  guineas,  to  Messrs.  May- 
nard  and  Wetherell,  in  whose  possession  he  served  cows  at  half  a 
guinea  each.  From  Studley  bull  came  "Lakeland's  bull,"  which  was 
the  sire  of  William  Barker's  bull  (51),  which  was  the  sire  of  Richard 
Barker's  bull  (52),  both  noted  as  the  sires  of  many  of  the  best  early 
Short-horns  of  their  day.  Studley  bull  was  also  sire  of  the  cow 
Tripes,  bred  by  Mr.  Pickering.  The  dam  of  Tripes  was  bred  by 
Mr.  Stephenson,  of  Ketton,  in  the  year  1739.  From  her  originated 
Mr.  S.'s  Princess  tribe. 

It  may  be  noted  here  that  in  the  earlier  recorded  pedigrees — notes 
or  memoranda,  rather — only  one  or  two  crosses  are  given,  with  the 
name  of  the  sire  only,  and  but  rarely  the  name  of  a  dam  given  at  all. 
In  many  other  instances  the  name  only  of  the  recorded  bull  is  given, 
without  any  allusion  to  breeder,  owner,  sire  or  dam ;  simply  recog- 
nizing him  as  a  Short-horn,  from  which  other  recorded  animals  are 
descended. 

To  "Studley  bull"  can  be  traced  a  larger  number  of  the  early 
recorded  Short-horns  than  to  any  other  one  of  which  we  have  a  par- 
ticular knowledge.  His  blood  was  well  known,  and  popular,  and 
being  of  the  Milbank  stock,  was  probably  as  pure  in  descent  as  any 
then  in  existence.  He  may  be  termed  one  of  the  principal  progen- 
itors of  the  Short-horn  race,  as  they  stand  recorded  in  the  Herd 
Book  from  its  first  volume  down  to  the  present,  although  not  the  only 
one,  as  numerous  others,  no  doubt,  existed  contemporary  with  him, 
sires  to  many  noted  tribes  of  a  later  day.  We  speak  of  him  only  as 
more  is  known  of  him  than  of  them,  he  having  a  Herd  Book  record, 
and  they  not. 

Another  noted  bull  may  be  named  into  whose  blood  probably  more 
of  the  later  pedigrees  can  be  traced  to,  and  ending  in  him,  than  to  any 
other,  viz. :  James  Brown's  red  bull  (97).  The  date  of  his  birth  is 
not  recorded,  but  it  was  probably  between  1765  and  1770.  He  was 
bred  by  John  Thompson,  of  Girlington  Hall,  and  got  by  William 
Barker's  bull  (51),  which  is  all  the  Herd  Book  says  of  him.  On  the 
side  of  his  sire,  he  was  a  great  grandson  of  Studley  bull.  His  dam 
is  not  named,  and  we  have  no  record  of  his  blood  on  her  side. 
Indeed,  there  seems  to  have  been  but  little  care  taken  in  those  days 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

to  give  the  names  of  dams  if  they  had  names  at  all.  We  are  to  pre- 
sume,*however,  that  they  were  pure  Short-horns,  as  there  is  no  prob- 
ability of  bulls  being  recorded  by  the  discriminating  breeders  of  the 
time  unless  their  lineage,  as  well  as  forms,  was  of  the  best  standard ; 
therefore  the  purity  of  their  blood  may  remain  unquestioned. 

From  all  the  accounts  we  have  been  able  to  gather,  the  cows  of 
that  day  were  good  milkers,  and  capable,  when  retired  from  breeding, 
and  the  dairy,  of  yielding  heavy  carcasses  of  beef.  These  qualities 
were,  of  course,  imparted  to  their  descendants,  and  perpetuated  as 
we  find  many  of  them  at  the  present  day. 

We  note  many  bulls  in  the  first  volume  of  the  English  Herd  Book 
that  lived  anterior  to  the  year  1780,  but  aside  from  their  names  and 
that  of  a  sire,  and  sometimes  a  grandsire,  little  or  nothing  seems 
to  have  been  recorded  of  their  ancestry,  and  nothing  beyond  can 
now  be  known  of  them.  Among  these,  in  addition  to  those  already 
named,  are  Alcock's  (Ralph)  bull  (19),  Allison's  gray  bull  (26),  Bartle 
(63),  J.  Brown's  white  bull  (98),  Dalton  Duke  (188),  Danby  (190), 
Davison's  bull  (192),  Dobson's  bull  (218),  Harrison's  bull  (292)  [his 
record  only  says,  "bred  by  Mr.  Waistell ;"  the  late  Mr.  Thomas 
Bates,  in  a  private  note  to  the  record  of  Harrison's  bull,  states  that 
he  was  got  by  Studley  bull  (626),  dam  Mr.  Waistell's  cow  Barforth], 
Hill's  red  bull  (310),  Hollon's  bull  (313),  Hubback  (319)  [of  which 
more  hereafter],  Jolly's  bull  (337)  [nothing  but  his  name  is  recorded], 
Kitt  (357)  [nothing  but  his  name  is  recorded],  Ladykirk  (355), 
Manfield  (404),  Masterman's  bull  (422)  [got  by  Studley  bull],  Pad- 
dock's bull  (477),  Robson's  (William)  bull  (538),  Signior  (588),  Sir 
James  Pennyman's  bull  (60 1),  Smith's  (Jacob)  bull  (608),  Smith's  (T.) 
bull  (609),  Snowdon's  bull  (612)  [sire  of  Hubback  (319)^  Studley 
White  bull  (627)  [got  by  Studley  bull  (626)],  Waistell's  bull  (669) 
[the  same  as  Robson's  bull  (558)],  Walker's  bull  (670)  [the  same  as 
Masterman's  bull  (422)]. 

The  above  named,  of  the  710  recorded  bulls  in  Vol.  i,  E.  H.  B., 
are  all,  probably,  as  near  as  can  be  ascertained  (of  record),  that 
lived  previous  to,  or  about  the  year  1780,  and  a  few  years  afterwards, 
and  probably  a  great  majority  of  the  pedigrees  of  the  present  time, 
if  their  lineage  could  be  traced,  might  run  back  into  the  blood  of 
one,  or  the  other,  or  several  of  them. 

Of  the  cows,  contemporary  with  the  bulls  we  have  named,  few,  if 
any,  are  recorded  in  either  the  first,  or  subsequent  volumes.  We 
can,  therefore,  only  infer  that  the  cows  were  equally  as  well  and 
carefully  bred  as  the  bulls.  Cattle  fairs,  (not  shows,  as  our  modern 


THE    COLLING    BROTHERS.  31 

exhibitions  are  improperly  called  fairs?)  where  beasts  were  taken 
to  market  for  sale,  were  then  common  in  England,  as  now,  and  prob- 
ably many  well-bred  cows  and  heifers  were  brought  there  by  their 
breeders,  and  owners,  and  the  breeders  of  choice  cattle  bought 
them,  when  their  blood  and  quality  were  considered  worthy  of  such 
use,  and  bred  to  their  choice  bulls.  From  such  market  cows  descended 
the  more  immediate  ancestors  of  many  celebrated  Short-horns  since. 
It  is  no  disparagement  to  those  nameless  cows  that  such  is  the  fact, 
as  very  few  pedigrees  can  now  be  traced  by  name,  on  the  female  side, 
beyond  the  year  1780,  and  but  comparatively  few,  among  a  great 
majority  of  them,  beyond  the  year  1800. 

To  show  what  was  the  general  character  of  the  Short-horns  of  the 
time  above  written,  we  quote  Bailey,  who  made  an  agricultural  sur- 
vey of  Durham,  and  wrote  in  the  year  1810:  "The  cattle  on  both 
sides  of  the  Tees  have  been  known  by  the  appellation  of  the  Tees- 
water  breed.  About  1740,  their  color  was  red  and  white,  and  white, 
with  a  little  red  about  the  neck,  or  roan."  In  "Thornton's  Circular," 
of  January,  1869,  published  in  London,  in  an  account  of  "Ancient 
Short-horns,"  the'writer  remarks:  "Mr.  John  Wright,  born  at  Low- 
fields,  near  Catterick,  in  1784,  a  well-known  judge,  and  who  was 
originally  proposed  as  the  author  of  the  Herd  Book,  says,  that  his 
earliest  recollections  of  the  Short-horns  were  large,  massive,  expan- 
sive cows,  with  great  width  and  substance,  hardy  constitutions,  mostly 
red  and  white  spotted,  white  bodies,  necks  spotted  with  red  or  roan, 
ears  red  and  head  white,  frequently  black  noses,  and  rather  long, 
waxy  horns."  Although  these  recollections  may  run  down  near  or 
quite  to  the  year  1800,  it  is  probable  that  they  give  the  features 
generally  prevailing  among  the  Short-horns  of  the  time. 

Although  we  might  give  further  accounts  from  different  sources — 
meager,  however,  at  the  best — of  the  Short-horns  as  they  existed 
anterior  to,  or  about  the  period  of  1780,  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to 
cumber  our  pages  with  simply  collateral  testimony,  (for  that  is  all 
there  would  be  of  it,)  and  we  proceed  to  a  new  era  in  their  history, 
from  which  we  are  able  to  gather  decided  particulars  of  fact,  irre- 
spective of  tradition,  or  common  rumor. 

THE  SHORT-HORNS  AT  AND  AFTER  THE  YEAR  1780 — ROBERT 
v  AND  CHARLES  COLLING. 

The  reason  why,  in  our  previous  remarks,  we  have  made,  and  now 
again  make,  a  point  of  the  year  1780,  or  thereabouts,  is,  that  near 
that  period  an  era  commenced  by  the  action  of  a  new  class  of  men, 


32  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

or  rather  by  a  more  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  value  of  Short- 
horns by  those  interested  in  their  propagation. 

This  change  of  sentiment  and  action  was  partially  introduced  by 
two  young  men,  brothers,  just  beginning  active  business  life  on  their 
own  account,  Robert  and  Charles  Colling.  They  were  sons  of  a 
substantial  farmer  living  in  the  valley  of  the  Tees,  who  had  many 
years  been  a  Short-horn  cattle  breeder.  He  brought  up  his  sons  in 
his  own  pursuit,  and  no  doubt  aided  them  with  an  outfit,  for  it 
appears  that  they  were  each  enabled  to  occupy  a  good  farm  in  the 
year  1783,  not  a  far  distance  apart,  stock  it  with  the  necessary  appli- 
ances, and  commence  in  a  spirited  way  the  breeding  of  Short-horns. 
That  they  were  intelligent,  sagacious,  enterprising,  there  can  be  little 
doubt,  as  their  subsequent  career  was  altogether  successful. 

In  writing  what  follows,  and  saying  much  of  the  operations  of  the 
Colling  brothers,  it  is  not  that  we  feel  any  partiality  for  them  over 
other  breeders  of  their  time,  but  because  more  historical  matter  has 
been  given  relating  to  them  and  their  proceedings  than  of  other 
breeders  contemporary  with  them,  and  further,  that  their  course  of 
breeding  has  been  more  freely  commented  upon  during  and  since 
the  time  they  were  on  the  stage  of  action.  It  has  been  asserted  that 
they  were  the  chief  and  real  improvers  of  the  Short-horn  race,  and  to 
them  has  been  ascribed  the  great  merit  and  glory  of  raising  them 
from  an  obscure  breed  in  a  narrow  locality,  into  the  peerless  excel- 
lence and  popularity  they  have  since  enjoyed  wherever  they  have 
obtained  a  foothold,  and  proved  successful  in  their  breeding.  We 
say  such  has  been  asserted — sometimes  by  those  who  know  nothing 
about  it,  other  than  by  information  through  partial  publications  of 
incidents  in  the  Ceilings'  career,  and  sometimes  by  others  who  had  a 
particular  partiality  for  them  through  the  stock  descended  from  their 
herds;  and  the  assertion  has  been  as  strongly  denied  by  others. 
This  question  of  their  improvement  of  the  Short-horns  will  be  dis- 
cussed hereafter. 

We  propose  to  state  all  the  facts  which  have  come  within  our 
knowledge  relating  to  the  Ceilings  in  their  course  of  cattle  breeding, 
and  the  results  which  have  followed  it.  From  such  facts  the  reader 
may  draw  his  own  conclusions  of  their  correctness,  or  otherwise. 
The  results  determined  by  the  extended  practice  in  breeding  by  the 
Collings  have  been  too  long  discussed,  both  in  England  and  the 
United  States,  by  those  who  have  considered  themselves  masters  in 
the  studies  of  natural  history  and  physiology,  to  set  up  our  own  judg- 
ment in  decision,  either  one  way  or  the  other.  We  have  opinions, 


THE    COLLING    BROTHERS.  33 

however,  and  may  give  them  at  a  proper  time  as  different  subjects  of 
discussion  may  arise,  but  knowing  that  different  opinions  may  be  as 
honestly  held,  and  as  freely  discussed  as  our  own,  we  do  not  choose 
to  bias  the  judgment  of  others,  or  rule  their  conclusions.  We  aim  to 
write  history,  and  nothing  else,  in  what  relates  to  Short-horn  progress 
and  improvement. 

Robert  Colling,  the  elder  brother,  settled  on  a  farm  at  Barmpton, 
and  Charles,  the  younger,  on  another  farm  at  Ketton,  which  latter 
one  had  been  for  many  previous  years  occupied  by  their  father,  within 
a  short  distance  of  the  Tees,  and  but  a  short  way  apart  from  each 
other,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Darlington.  Practical  farming  among 
the  higher  classes  of  nobility  had  become  respectable.  His  Majesty, 
the  third  George,  the  first  of  the  Guelph  dynasty  born  in  England, 
had  become  much  interested  in  the  cultivation  of  his  royal  acres  at 
Windsor.  He  was  a  stock  breeder  too,  as  well  as  a  farmer.  Although 
intractable  and  pertinacious,  as  were  his  Guelph  progenitors,  in  affairs 
of  state,  he  was  a  sober  prince,  fond  of  country  life,  and  a  lover  of 
fine  farm  stock.  Placable  in  domestic  life,  with  his  cousin-German 
Queen,  quite  as  domestic  as  himself,  and  their  large  family  of  chil- 
dren, he  spent  much  of  his  time  at  the  palace  of  Windsor,  supervising 
and  directing  his  farm.  In  his  various  attentions  to  stock  breeding 
His  Majesty  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  celebrated  Robert 
Bakewell,  a  stock  raiser  and  farmer  in  Leicestershire,  who  had  acquired 
a  wide  reputation  in  breeding  up  the  "Long-horned"  cattle  of  his 
district  into  an  excellence  of  quality  hitherto  unknown.  Bakewell 
had  also  given  a  new  variety  of  long-wooled  sheep  to  the  kingdom, 
by  a  careful  course  of  breeding  from  the  rather  scraggy-bodied,  long- 
wools  then  prevalent  in  his  vicinity.  To  such  excellence  and  popu- 
larity had  he  raised  these  sheep  that  they  afterwards  assumed  the 
several  names  of  New  Leicester,  Dishley,  (the  name  of  his  farm,) 
and  Bakewell,  as  those  who  purchased  from  him  and  bred  them  chose 
to  call  the  improved  variety. 

Bakewell  was  born  in  the  year  1726,  and  died  in  1795.  He  had 
pursued  his  vocation  as  a  breeder  long  and  successfully,  became 
wealthy,  was  a  man  of  large  hospitality — for  a  farmer  of  those  days — 
received  many  visits  from  noblemen  of  rank,  who  sought  his  advice 
in  improving  their  farm  stock,  and  among  others  George  the  Third 
had  made  him  -visits  on  the  same  errand,  consulting  him  freely,  and 
buying  of  his  stock.  Bakewell's  system  of  breeding  was  his  own, 
widely  different  from  the  usual  practice  of  the  English  stock  breeders 
of  his  day,  and  with  him  entirely  original,  as  then  considered.  He 
3 


34  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

was  a  good  animal  physiologist.  He  cut  up  and  dissected  various 
carcasses  of  his  sheep  and  cattle,  examined  their  flesh,  bones  and 
sinews,  put  them  in  pickle,  and  afterwards  hung  them  up  in  his  lab- 
oratory for  further  observation.  He  was  a  profound  master  of  his 
business,  and  perhaps  the  originator  of  a  new  system  of  breeding  by 
which,  in  his  own  hands,  his  success  was  triumphantly  acknowledged 
over  any  other  stock  breeder  of  his  time.  It  is  probable  that  to  his 
efforts  and  example  England  at  this  day  owes  her  unrivaled  breed  of 
long-wooled  sheep.  His  selection  of  the  breed  of  cattle  on  which  to 
exercise  his  skill  was  not  so  happy.  Although  of  an  ancient  race, 
they  were  not  generally  popular  with  the  farmers  in  and  beyond  the 
counties  immediately  surrounding  Leicestershire ;  yet  he  raised  them 
to  a  capacity  for  acquiring  flesh  never  before  equaled.  Although 
now  existing,  and  of  excellent  quality  in  limited  herds — perhaps 
quite  equal  to  those  which  Bakewell  improved — the  Long-horns  have 
not  attained  wide  popularity  as  a  race. 

Bakewell  also  bred  the  common  cart  or  dray  horse  of  England 
into  enormous  size  and  symmetry,  which  they  hold  to  the  present 
time ;  and  all  by  one  persistent  course  of  breeding,  good  food,  and 
watchful  care.  His  system  with  all  these  animals  was,  first  to  select, 
wherever  he  could  find  them,  and  of  the  best  blood,  those  as  near  a 
proper  form  for  the  purposes  he  needed  as  was  possible,  and  then  by 
breeding  them  to  their  own  family  blood  alone,  only  going  out  of  it 
for  other  selections  when  he  could  find  a  better,  which  was  seldom, 
until  he  brought  them  to  the  points  of  excellence  in  form  and  quality 
that  he  wanted.  This  was  "in-and-in  breeding;"  and  although  not 
concurred  in  by  the  common  sentiment  of  humanity,  so  far  as  its  own 
race  is  concerned,  Bakewell  and  others  who  have  since  followed  his 
example  most  closely,  have  decided,  indeed  proved,  that  under  proper 
selections  of  the  animals  so  paired  together,  the  practice  has  resulted 
in  the  highest  success.  Such  was  Bakewell's  practice.  He  may  be 
said  to  have  introduced  the  modern  system  of  improved  stock  breed- 
ing— whatever  may  have  been  known  to  the  ancients,  and  since  lost — 
and  as  such  improver,  his  name  will  go  down  to  posterity  with  grati- 
tude and  honor. 

The  young  Ceilings  were  sagacious  men,  Charles  the  more  active 
and  enterprising,  although  Robert  was  equally  sound  in  judgment  as 
a  breeder ;  and  they  were  admirably  fitted  to  work  in  unison  so  far 
as  their  views  in  breeding  were  concerned.  Forecasting,  as  well  as 
thoughtful  in  laying  their  plans  for  future  action,  they  had  heard  of 
Bakewell  and  his  improvements — for  he  had  been  at  work  thirty 


THE    COLLING    BROTHERS.  35 

years  before  the  Ceilings  began — his  fame  was  abroad  through  the 
chief  stock-breeding  counties  of  England,  and  had  long  before 
reached  the  precincts  of  the  Tees.  At  the  outset  of  the  brothers' 
career  in  breeding,  they  paid  Bakewell  repeated  visits,  closely  exam- 
ined his  stock,  saw  the  improvements  he  had  made  in  them  over 
the  faulty  originals  from  which  he  had  reared  them,  and  took  many 
shrewd  lessons  in  his  manner  of  proceeding.  They  bought  improved 
sheep  of  him,  divided  them  with  each  other,  and  followed  his  prac- 
tice in  breeding  them.  The  system  adopted  by  Bakewell  the  Ceilings 
determined  to  pursue  with  their  Short-horns,  which  they  had  now 
selected  for  their  own  breeding.  4$. 

About  the  year  1780 — perhaps  a  year  or  two  earlier,  or  later,  for 
we  have  not  the  exact  date  of  their  beginning — the  Collings  became 
stock  breeders  before  settling  at  Barmpton  and  Ketton.  "  The  best 
specimens  of  Short-horns  jDf  that  time,  generally,  were  wide-backed, 
well-framed  cows,  deep  in  their  fore  quarters,  soft  and  mellow  in 
their  hair  and  'handling,'  and  possessing,  with  average  milking  qual- 
ities, a  remarkable  disposition  to  fatten.  Their  horns  were  rather 
longer  than  those  of  their  descendants  of  the  present  day,  and  widen- 
ing upwards.  The  faults  were  those  of  an  undue  prominence  of  the 
hip  and  shoulder  joints,  a  want  of  length  in  the  hind  quarters,  of 
width  in  the  floor  of  the  chest,  of  fullness  generally  before  and  behind 
the  shoulders,  as  well  as  upon  the  shoulder  itself.  They  had  a 
somewhat  disproportionate  abdomen  [large  bellies],  too  long  in  the 
legs,  and  a  want  of  substance,  indicative  of  delicacy  in  the  hide. 
They  failed  also  in  the  essential  requisite  of  taking  on  their  flesh 
evenly  and  firmly  over  the  whole  frame,  which  frequently  gave  them 
an1  unlevel  appearance.  There  was,  moreover,  a  general  want  of 
compactness  in  their  conformation."*  Of  such  material,  mainly — 
although  some  of  the  Tees  breeders  had  cattle  with  more  of  the 
good  qualities,  and  less  faulty  than  others — the  Collings  found  the 
Teeswater,  or  Short-horn  cattle,  when  they  began  their  course  as 
breeders.  It  is  evident  that  the  animals  needed  improvement,  and 
that  of  a  radical  kind. 

We  have  already  recited  the  weights  of  some  of  the  cattle  anterior 
to  the  Collings.  From  them  we  know  that  they  could  be  fed  to  an 
extraordinary  weight,  whatever  the  precise  quality  of  their  flesh 
might  prove,  or  the  amount  of  offal  they  threw  off.  Culley,  after 
many  years  earlier  Short-horn  experience  and  observation,  writing 

*  Mr.  Carr,  of  Stackhouse,  in  his  history  of  the  Booth  Short-horns. 


36  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

in  the  year  1803,  says:  "The  great  obstacle  to  improvement  was 
that  no  Dull  should  be  used  to  the  same  stock  more  than  three  years ; 
if  kept  longer  the  breed  would  be  too  near  akin,  and  produce  tender, 
diminutive  stock,  liable  to  disorders."  Bakewell,  however,  had  upset 
all  this  nonsense  by  persistently  breeding  in-and-in  his  own  cattle  and 
sheep  through  all  possible  degrees  of  consanguinity,  and  the  Ceilings 
adopting  his  theory  at  the  outset,  determined  to  put  Bakewell's  course 
into  practice.  * 

Here,  then,  were  the  two  young  breeders — Robert  about  the  age 
of  thirty,  living  a  bachelor,  and  Charles  a  year  or  two  younger,  and 
married — settled  in  their  vocation  in  the  very  home  of  the  Short- 
horns, surrounded  by  a  wide  neighborhood  of  veteran  breeders,  life- 
long engaged  in  the  business,  in  which  their  capital,  pride  and  ambition 
were  all  enlisted.  From  the  herds  of  those  breeders  the  Collings 
could  select  at  pleasure,  without  a  heavy  drainage  on  their  purses,  for 
prices  in  fine  cattle  had  not  yet  taken  a.  fancy  altitude  in  that  locality. 
The  depression  of  agricultural  values  then  caused  by  the  late  French 
and  American  wars  had  reduced  them  to  their  minimum.  A  pleas- 
ant time  the  young  men  must  have  had  in  ranging  over  the  country, 
examining  the  herds  and  selecting  their  stock,  with  ample  means  in 
their  pockets  to  command  the  best  of  them,  and  embark  in  a  business 
so  full  of  interest,  expectation  and  profit.  Educated  to  the  pursuit 
by  a  shrewd,  managing  father,  though  possessing  the  same  notions  in 
breeding  as  were  held  by  his  neighbors,  the  sons  had  the  sagacity 
to  believe  that  improvement  was  within  their  reach,  and  their  visits 
to  Bakewell  had  confirmed  it.  What  were  the  earliest  purchases 
they  made,  who  from,  or  the  names  of  the  cattle,  history  has  given 
no  record. 

Robert  and  Charles  were  at  first  in  partnership,  but  separated  when 
going  to  their  separate  farms  at  Barmpton  and  Ketton,  which  took 
place  some  time  about  the  year  1783.  Still,  they  bred  more  or  less  in 
conjunction,  frequently  using  the  same  bulls,  alternating  as  they  either 
chose,  or  agreed,  but  each  having  his  own  cows,  and  they  drawn 
from  the  different  herds  around  them. 

HUBBACK. 

Having  early  begun  their  course  of  breeding  by  obtaining  several 
good  cows,  we  now  introduce  another  distinguished  animal  into  the 
Colling  herds,  whose  blood,  coursing  through  the  descendants  of 
those  cows  and  others  in  their  hands,  constituted  an  era  in  the  Short- 
horn breeding  of  that  day.  This  was  no  less  than  the  famous  bull 


HUBBACX.  37 

HUBBACK,  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Waistell,  of  Ali-hill,  and  Robert  Col- 
ling, about  whose  history  there  has  been  more  controversy,  guess- 
work, inference,  and  error,  probably,  than  in  that  of  any  early 
Short-horn  bull  whatever ;  and  for  a  part  of  this  error  the  world  is 
indebted  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Berry,  who  wrote  the  brief  Short-horn 
history  in  Youatt's  "British  Cattle,"  in  the  year  1834,  and,  as  we 
think,  from  interested  motives  of  his  own,  being  a  Short-horn  breeder 
himself,  and  having  an  object  in  prejudicing  the  public  against  the 
purity  of  Hubback's  blood.  Of  Mr.  Berry  and  his  history,  more  will 
be  said  hereafter. 

We  have  investigated  the  subject  of  Hubback  exhaustively,  looked 
through  all  the  authorities  and  controversies  relating  to  him,  which  it 
would  be  tiresome  and  unprofitable  to  repeat  at  length,  besides  lead- 
ing the  reader  into  a  labyrinth  of  statements  and  counter-statements, 
out  of  which  he  might  not  arrive,  after  all,  at  a  very  accurate  con- 
clusion.* His  pedigree  in  Vol.  i,  E.  H.  B.,  is  here  given: 

"(319.)  HUBBACK. — Yellow  red  and  white,  calved  in  1777,  bred 
by  Mr.  John  Hunter  of  Hurworth,  got  by  Snowdon's  bull  (612),  dam 
from  the  stock  of  Sir  James  Pennyman,  and  these  from  the  stock  of 
Sir  William  St.  Quintin,  of  Scampston." 

This  is  all  there  is  of  the  pedigree  proper,  although  appended  to  it 
are  references  to  the  pedigree  of  Snowdon's  bull  through  his  differ- 
ent sires. 

That  Snowdon's  bull  may  be  understood,  his  pedigree  (all  there  is 
of  it)  is  recorded  in  E.  H.  B.,  Vol.  i,  as  follows : 

"  (612.)  Snowdon's  bull  (sire  of  Hubback),  got  by  Wm.  Robson's 
bull  (558)." 

All  the  pedigree  which  Robson's  bull  has  is,  "  got  by  James  Mas- 
terman's  bull  (422),"  and  all  that  is  said  of  Masterman's  bull  is,  "got 
by  Studley  bull  (626)." 

Accompanying  the  pedigree  of  Hubback  is  also  a  certificate,  as 
follows : 

"  I  remember  the  cow  which  my  father  bred,  that  was  the  dam  of 
Hubback ;  there  was  no  idea  then  that  she  had  any  mixed  or  Kyloe 
blood  in  her.  Much  has  been  lately  said,  that  she  was  descended 
from  a  Kyloe ;  but  I  have  no  reason  to  believe,  nor  do  I  believe,  that 
she  had  any  Kyloe  blood  in  her.  JOHN  HUNTER. 

HURWORTH,  NEAR  DARLINGTON,  July  6,  1822" 

*  For  a  full  and  exhaustive  discussion  of  the  question  see  "Youatt's  Cattle,"  American  Edi- 
tion ;  also  its  account  of  Hubback,  by  the  American  Editor,  extracted  and  printed  in  Vol.  2, 
American  Short-horn  Herd  Book. 


38  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

This  certificate  was  made  by  the  son  of  Hubback's  breeder,  forty- 
five  years  after  the  bull's  birth,  and  at  the  time  he  was  recorded  in 
the  Herd  Book.  Mr.  Hunter's  recollection  of  the  charge  of  Kyloe* 
blood  in  the  cow  was  probably  quite  distinct.  He  had  undoubtedly 
heard  it  talked  over  at  the  time  when  the  bull's  merits  were  ascer- 
tained and  discussed,  and  from  the  very  accurate  description  we  have 
of  the  cow,  there  is  little  probability  that  she  was  any  other  than  a 
pure  Short-horn.  At  all  events,  the  conceded  merits  attached  to  the 
bull  as  a  getter  of  superior  stock,  in  none  of  which  do  we  find  a 
cropping  out  of  any  other  than  Short-horn  blood,  (which  would  occa- 
sionally have  been  the  case  had  he  much  of  the  Kyloe  in  him,)  we 
may  safely  conclude  that  Hubback  was  as  pure  in  blood  as  any  other 
Short-horn  of  his  time. 

On  the  sire's  side  of  Hubback  all  appears  fair,  and  only  on  the 
side  of  his  dam  were  circulated,  by  some  parties,  a  suspicion  of 
Kyloe,  or  Scotch  blood  in  his  veins,  which  seems  to  be  fully  set  at 
rest  by  the  certificate  of  Mr.  Hunter.  A  like  innuendo  was  circulated 
by  others,  that  Dutch  blood  had  crept  into  Hubback  by  the  rumor 
(without  anything  like  proof,  however),  that  Sir  William  St.  Quintin 
had,  many  years  before,  imported  a  bull  or  bulls,  from  Holland,  and 
crossed  them  into  his  cows  to  improve  their  quality,  and  which  blood 
had  gone  by  descent  into  the  stock  of  Sir  James  Pennyman.  But, 
as  in  a  previous  page  has  been  conclusively  shown,  we  think,  that  no 
-  such  Dutch  importations  had  been  made,  these  innuendoes,  surmises 
and  charges,  all  fall  to  the  ground. 

The  history  of  the  cow — Hubback's  dam — is  simply  this :  She 
was  bred  by  Mr.  Stephenson,  who  had  lived  at  Ketton  before  Charles 
Colling's  day,  and  the  ancestors  of  the  cow  had  been  in  Mr.  Stephen- 
son's  possession  for  more  than  forty  years,  as  he  had  long  been  a 
Short-horn  breeder  of  the  Pennyman  and  Studley  stock.  She  was  a 
small  cow,  of  remarkably  smooth  and  even  qualities,  and  an  excel- 
lent feeder.  She  had  fine  hair,  a  bright  look,  was  a  good  milker,  as 
were  all  the  cows  of  her  tribe,  and  no  doubt  imparted  much  of  her 
good  quality  to  her  son,  Hubback.  How  so  much  controversy  could 
exist  about  her  being  of  Kyloe  descent,  and  thus  damaging  the 
integrity  of  Hubback — for  it  was  only  on  her  side  that  his  blood 
could  be  assailed — is  only  to  be  accounted  for  in  the  jealousies  and 
party  spirit  which  was  rife  among  the  breeders  of  the  time.  The 
very  fact,  admitted  by  all  authorities,  that  Hubback's  begettings  were 

*  The  Kyloes  are  the  u  West  Highland  "  cattle  of  Scotland.— L.  F.  A. 


HUBBACK.  39 

of  superior  quality — although  from  poor  cows  they  were  inferior  to 
those  of  good  ones — should  be  conclusive  proof  of  his  good  descent, 
for  if  he  had  bad  blood  in  him,  it  would,  to  a  certainty,  crop  out  in 
some  of  his  progeny.  Yet,  aside  from  his  meager  pedigree,  Hub- 
back  had  a  personal  history — a  plain,  straightforward  one,  attested 
by  several  different  accounts,  all  agreeing  in  the  main,  and  as  such 
we  give  it. 

John  Hunter,  the  breeder  of  Hubback,  was  a  bricklayer,  and 
lived  in  Hurworth.  He  had  once  been  a  tenant  farmer,  and  bred 
Short-horn  cattle,  which,  when  leaving  his  farm  to  live  in  Hurworth, 
he  sold  all  off,  excepting  one  choice  little  cow,  which  he  took  with 
him,  and  as  he  had  no  pasture  of  his  own  for  her  to  graze  in,  she 
run  in  the  lanes  of  the  town.  While  there  she  was  put  to  George 
"  Snowdon's  bull,"  also  in  Hurworth.  From  him  the  cow  dropped  a 
bull  calf.  Soon  afterwards  the  cow  and  calf  were  driven  to  Darling- 
ton market,  and  there  sold  to  a  Mr.  Bassnett,  a  timber  merchant. 
Bassnett  retained  the  cow,  but  sold  the  calf  to  a  blacksmith  at  Hornby, 
five  miles  out  from  Darlington.  The  dam  of  the  calf  taking  on  flesh 
readily,  would  not  again  breed,  and  after  some  months  was  fattened 
and  slaughtered.  Growing  to  a  useful  age,  the  young  bull,  in  1783, 
was  found  at  six  years  old,  in  the  hands  of  a  Mr.  Fawcett,  living  at 
Haughton-hill,  not  far  from  Darlington. 

"  Mr.  Wright  (a  noted  Short-horn  breeder)  says  that  Charles  Col- 
ling going  into  Darlington  market  weekly,  used  to  notice  some 
excellent  veal,  and  upon  inquiry  ascertained  that  the  calves  were  got 
by  a  bull  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Fawcett  of  Haughton-hill.  This  bull, 
then  known  as  Fawcett's  bull,  and  some  years  afterwards  called  Hub- 
back,  was,  at  the  time,  serving  cows  at  a  shilling  each  (about  22  cents). 
Charles  Colling,  however,  as  the  merits  of  the  beast  were  talked 
over  between  himself  and  others,  did  not  appear  particularly  im- 
pressed with  them.  But  Robert  Colling  ano!  his  neighbor,  Mr.  Wais- 
tell,  of  Ali-hill,  who  had  also  seen  the  bull,  thought  better  of  him, 
and  more  accurately  measured  his  value.  The  two,  soon  after  Good 
Friday,  in  April,  1783,  bought  him  of  Mr.  Fawcett  for  ten  guineas 
(about  $52),  and  took  him  home,  where  he  was  jointly  owned  and 
used  to  their  separate  herds,  Colling  having  seventeen  and  Waistell 
eleven  cows,  served  by  him  during  the  season.  In  the  following 
November  (1783),  Charles  Colling  having  changed  his  opinion  of  the 
merits  of  the  bull,  offered  his  owners  eight  guineas  (about  $42)  for 
him,  and  they  sold  him.  Waistell  had  reserved,  on  his  part  of  the 
sale,  that  Charles  should  let  all  his  cows  be  served  to  the  bull  as  long 


4O  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

as  the  latter  owned  him,  but  Waistell  sending  a  cow  the  following 
year,  Colling  refused  the  service  unless  paid  five  guineas  for  it.*  The 
cow  was  diiven  home  unserved,  and  Waistell  had  no  cows  sent  to 
the  bull  afterwards. 

Charles  Colling  kept  the  bull  two  years,  using  him  freely  in  his 
herd,  and  then  sold  him  late  in  1785,  at  ten  years  old,  to  a  Mr. 
Hubback,  at  North  Seton,  in  Northumberland.  "The  bull  had  no 
name  when  Colling  sold  him.  Mr.  Hubback  used  him  (the  bull  then 
being  called  Hubback's  bull)  until  the  year  1791,  when  he  was  fourteen 
years  old,  and  he  was  vigorous  to  the  last.  Mr.  Thomas  Bates  saw 
him,  and  calves  got  by  him,  in  i7po."f 

Thus,  the  story,  written  by  Mr.  Berry,  that  "  Hubback  was  partly 
of  Dutch  blood,  bought — when  a  calf,  running  by  his  mother's  side 
in  the  lanes — by  Waistell  and  Robert  Colling,  and  both,  including 
Charles  Colling,  using  him  but  three  years,  when,  by  taking  on  so 
much  flesh  he  became  impotent,  and  was  slaughtered,"  is  all,  but 
the  three  years'  use,  the  sheerest  invention.  The  facts,  undoubtedly 
were,  that  neither  Waistell  nor  either  of  the  Collings,  truly  appreci- 
ated the  merits  of  Hubback  until  after  they  had  parted  with  him, 
and  saw  the  excellence  of  his  stock  as  they  grew  up  and  developed. 
He  was  a  small  bull ;  his  dam  was  small — for  a  Short-horn — but  a 
very  handsome  cow,  of  fine  symmetry,  with  a  nice  touch,  and  fine, 
long,  mossy  hair.  All  these  choice  qualities  Hubback  took  from  her, 
and  his  hair  remained  unusually  late  in  the  spring  before  shedding. 
As  good  size  was  a  meritorious  point  in  Short-horns  at  that  time,  it 
is  highly  probable  that  the  Collings  discarded  him  for  that  deficiency 
more  than  any  other.  Yet  the  subsequent  reputation  of  Hubback, 
among  the  breeders,  stood  higher  than  that  of  any  bull  of  his  time, 
and  it  was  considered  a  great  merit  in  any  Short-horn  which  could 
trace  its  pedigree  back  into  his  blood,  which,  no  doubt,  could  be 
easily  done,  as  he  was,  both  before  and  after  the  Collings  owned 
him,  open  to  the  public  at  a  cheap  rate  of  service.  Other  animals 
than  those  of  Waistell  and  the  Collings,  recorded  in  the  English  Herd 
Book,  trace  their  pedigrees  back  to  Hubback. 

One  more,  and  as  we  think,  conclusive  evidence  may  be  added  to 
the  integrity  of  Hubback's  Short-horn  blood :  "  Mr.  Charge,  as  well 
as  Mr.  Coates,  and  Charles  Colling,  always  deemed  Hubback  a  pure 
Short-horn ;  and  neither  he  nor  his  descendants  when  put  on  cows 

*  From  various  transactions  we  have  heard  of  him,  with  all  his  cleverness  as  a  breeder, w 2 
incline  to  the  opinion  that  Charles  Colling  had  an  especial  eye  to  his  own  interests. 
t  American  Edition  of  Youatt's  British  Cattle. 


THE    STANWICK,   OR    ORIGINAL    DUCHESS.         4! 

of  the  pure  blood,  begot  any  calves  which  denoted  in  their  features 
or  color  any  other  breed  than  the  pure  Short-horn.  His  stock  had 
capacious  chests,  prominent  bosoms,  thick,  mossy  coats,  mellow  skins, 
with  a  great  deal  of  fine  flesh,  spread  equally  over  the  whole  carcass, 
and  were  either  red  and  white,  yellow  roans,  or  white."* 

It  is  said  that  in  the  year  1784,  after  coming  into  possession  of 
Hubback  (or  Fawcett's  bull),  Charles  Colling  picked  up  several  good 
cows,  .among  them  some  got  by  Fawcett's  bull ;  but  one  of  the  most 
noted,  as  afterwards  known  in  her  descendants,  was  the  "  Stanwick 
cow"  (the  original  of  the  "Duchess"  tribe),  which  in  June,  1784, 
was  driven  from  the  Stanwick  estate  of  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land^ in  Yorkshire,  to  be  sold  in  the  Darlington  market,  and  Colling 
being  present  when  the  cow  was  driven  in,  took  an  especial  fancy  to 
her  fair  qualities,  and  bought  her  at  the  low  price  of  ^£13  ($65). 
"  She  was  a  massive,  short-legged  beast,  breast  near  the  ground,  a  great 
grower,  with  wide  back,  and  of  a  beautiful  yellowish-red  flaked 
color."  J  Colling  called  her  Duchess.  She  was  got  by  J.  Brown's  red 
bull  (97),  and  no  further,  pedigree  of  her  was  known.  She  was  bred 
to  Hubback,  and  through  the  produce  of  that  coupling  descended 
the  since  famous  (through  Mr.  Bates'  breeding  on  the  female  side) 
"  Duchess  "  tribe  of  Short-horns.§ 

During  the  two  seasons  that  Charles  Colling  possessed  Hubback 
we  may  suppose  that  he  made  diligent  use  of  him  in  his  herd,  but  we 
do  not  learn  that  the  bull  m*de  a  strong  impression  of  his  value,  or  he 
would  not  so  soon  have  parted  with  him.  At  all  events,  the  merits  of 
his  stock  were  not  fully  appreciated  until  some  time  after  he  had  dis- 
posed of  him,  and  Colling  had  become  in  possession,  through  other 
parties,  of  cows  of  his  get  anterior  to  his  own  use  of  the  bull. 

*  Thornton's  Circular. 

t  We  have  since  heard  it  asserted  that  the  u  Stanwick  "  cow  was  not  from  the  Stanwick  estate, 
but  from  the  neighboring  one  of  Aldbrough,  also  belonging  to  the  Northumberland  domain  ;  but 
it  matters  little  which  of  the  farms  produced  the  cow.  She  was  of  the  Northumberland  Short- 
horn blood,  unquestionably. 

%  Mr.  Bates. 

§  The  Stanwick  estate  was  said  to  have  then  been  in  the  occupancy  of  Earl  Percy,  a  son  of  Sir 
Hugh  Smithson,  before  related  as  being  raised  to  the  peerage  with  the  title  of  Duke  of  North- 
umberland, under  the  Percy  succession.  This  Earl  Percy  held  a  commission  in  the  British  army, 
and  was  one  of  the  party  who  attacked  the  American  Provincial  troops  at  Lexington,  Mass.,  in 
qhe  beginning  of  our  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  for  some  years  absent  from  home.  He  after- 
wards succeeded  his  father  to  the  estates  and  title  of  second  Duke  of  Northumberland.  The 
late  Mr.  Smithson,  of  England,  who  bequeathed  the  generous  donation  of  $500,000  to  found  our 
National  "Smithsonian  Institution,"  at  Washington,  was  a  natural  son  of  that  second  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  and  grandson  to  Sir  Hugh  Smithson,  the  first  Duke,  previously  mentioned.  In 
his  inimitable  poem,  uAlnwick  Castle,"  our  American  Halleck  alludes  to  Earl  Percy,  as  having 

"  Fought  for  King  George  at  Lexington, 
A  major  of  dragoons." 


42  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

"  Gabriel  Thornton,  in  1786,  went  to  live  with  Chailes,  as  farm  man- 
ager, having  previously  lived,  since  1774,  with  Mr.  Maynard,  at 
Eryholme.  Some  remarks  of  Mr.  Thornton  concerning  Mr.  May- 
nard's  cattle,  led  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Colling*  to  ride  over  to  Eryholme 
that  same  year.  When  they  arrived,  a  handsome  cow,  called  *  Favor- 
ite,' that  Miss  Maynard  was  milking,  attracted  their  notice,  and  Mr. 
Colling  offered  to  buy  the  cow  and  her  heifer.  After  some  haggling 
on  both  sides,  the  purchase  was  made,  and  the  cows,  *' Favorite,' 
and  her  daughter,  'Young  Strawberry,'  went  to  Ketton." 

As  these  two  cows,  "Favorite"  (afterwards  Lady  Maynard,  in 
Ceiling's  hands),  and  her  daughter,  "Young  Strawberry,"  m|irk  the 
foundation  of  another  distinguished  family  of  Short-horns  (aside 
from  the  Duchess  already  named),  through  the  joint  interbreeding  of 
their  own  bull  and  heifer  progenies,  from  which  the  bull  "  Favorite  " 
(252)  descended,  and  on  which  Ceiling's  chief  celebrity  as  an  im- 
prover is  based,  a  full  history  of  the  cows  will  be  given. 

LADY  MAYNARD  AND  YOUNG  STRAWBERRY. 

Mr.  Maynard  had  long  been  a  distinguished  breeder  of  Short- 
horns at  his  farm  of  Eryholme,  then  occupied  by  him,  and  for  many 
years  since  by  his  descendants,  who  have  continuously  bred  until  a 
recent  day  first-class  cattle.  At  the  time  of  Charles  Ceiling's  visit 
to  him  for  the  purchase  of  the  two  cows,  Maynard  was  in  possession 
of  an  excellent  herd,  and  Colling  finding  the  things  he  wanted, 
bought  them  of  him  at  the  low  price  of  ^40  ($200)  for  the  cow 
and  heifer,  f 

The  pedigree  of  the  cow  Lady  Maynard  is  thus  given  under  the 
name  of  "Favorite,  or  Lady  Maynard,"  in  the  first  edition  of  Vol.  i, 
Coates'  E.  H.  B. : 

"  Red  roan,  bred  by  Mr.  Maynard,  got  by  Mr.  Ralph  Alcock's  J 
bull  (19),  d.  by  Jacob  Smith's  §  bull  (608),  gr.  d.  (Strawberry)  by 
Mr.  Jolly's  bull  (337)."  i| 

*  It  is  said  Mrs.  Colling  was  quite  as  much  interested  in  cattle  breeding  as  her  husband,  and 
having  no  children  she  had  abundant  leisure  to  devote  to  the  stock. 

t  Mr.  Bates'  History. 

$  All  the  record  pedigree  of  Alcock's  bull  is,  "bred  by  Mr.  Michael  Jackson,  of  Hutton-Bon- 
ville,  near  North  Allerton."  A  note  of  Mr.  Bates'  says :  "A  good  bull." 

§  Smith's  bull  has  no  pedigree  whatever.  His  name  only  is  recorded.  A  note  to  his  pedigree, 
in  manuscript,  written  by  Mr.  Bates,  says  :  "  Yellow  red,  white  face,  white  back,  and  white  legs 
to  the  knees." 

II  Jolly's  bull  has  no  pedigree  ;  recorded  by  name  only.  Mr.  Bates  said,  "he  was  bred  by  Mr. 
Waistell,  of  Great  Burden." 

Mr.  Bates  afterwards  wrote  that  Mr.  Maynard  gave  him  a  long  pedigree  of  the  cow  "  Favor- 
ite," running  back  to  the  "  Murrain  "  year,  1745. 


LADY    MAYNARD. 


43 


Lady  Maynard's  produce  is  thus  recorded  : 


SEX  AND   COLOR. 

NAME. 

SIRE. 

BREEDER. 

178-,  cow  calf, 
178-,  cow  calf,  red  roan, 
178-,  cow  calf,  r.  &  w., 
178-,  bull  calf,  r.  &  w., 

1796,  bull  calf,  white, 
and  another  cow  calf  v 

Young  Strawberry, 
Miss  Lax, 
Phoenix, 
Lady  Maynard's  bull  (356), 

Mason's  white  bull  (421),  •< 
'hich  did  not  breed. 

Dalton  Duke  (188), 
Dalton  Duke  (188), 
Foljambe  (263), 
Lame  bull  (357), 
Bolingbroke  (86),  or 
Favorite  (252), 

Mr.  Maynard. 
Mr.  Maynard. 
Charles  Colling. 
Charles  Colling. 
Charles  Colling. 

Thus  it  appears  that  Young  Strawberry,  which  Colling  purchased 
with  the  cow,  was  her  first  calf,  and  she  was  bred  by  Maynard.  As 
the  pedigree  of  the  cow  Young  Strawberry  is  already  given  under  the 
produce  of  Lady  Maynard,  the  pedigree  of  her  (Young  Strawberry's) 
son  Bolingbroke  (86)  is  found  as  her  produce,  under  her  record  in 
Vol.  i,  E.  H.  B.,  as  calved  November  12,  1788,  red  and  white,  bred 
by  Mr.  Colling,  and  got  by- Foljambe  (263).  Foljambe  is  entered  in 
the  Herd  Book  as  bred  by  Colling ;  other  authorities  contend  that  he 
was  bred  by  Mr.  Hall,  of  Haughton-hill,  got  by  Richard  Barker's  bull 
(52),  out  of  the  cow  Haughton,  by  Hubback.  Colling  afterwards 
bought  the  cow  Haughton  of  Mr.  Hall.  The  pedigree  of  the  cow 
Haughton  runs  thus : 

"Got  by  Hubback  (319),  dam  by  a  bull  of  the  late  Charles  Col- 
ling's  (which  he  bought  of  Mr.  John  Bamlet),  gr.  d.  by  Mr.  Waistell's 
bull  (669),  g.  gr.  d.  Tripes,  bred  by  Mr.  C.  Pickering." 

By  other  authority  Tripes  is  said  to  be  by  Studley  bull  (626),  and 
her  dam  bred  by  Mr.  Stephenson,  of  Ketton,  in  1739. 

So  it  will  be  seen  that  Foljambe  was  of  stranger  blood  to  the  Lady 
Maynard  family.  Thus,  with  Foljambe,  and  his  Lady  Maynard,  and 
other  tribes,  Colling  went  on  with  his  new  course  of  breeding ;  but 
we  do  not  find  that  Foljambe  was  directly  used  to  any  of  the  Colling- 
Duchess,  or  Stanwick  family,  as  their  pedigrees  enter  into  the  first 
volume  of  E.  H.  B.  only  in  Mr.  Bates'  Duchess  ist,  calved  in  1810, 
got  by  Comet  (155),  and  the  fifth  in  descent  from  the  Stanwick 
cow.  Yet  as  Duchess  ist  was  descended  through  Comet  and  Favor- 
ite, who  had  the  blood  of  Foljambe  in  them,  the  Duchess  tribe  had 
his  blood  also. 

With  the  basis  of  the  two  tribes,  Duchess,  and  Lady  Maynard,  in 
his  hands,  as  well  as  with  other  cows  which  he  had  selected,  Charles 
Colling  began  his  remarkable  in-and-in  system  of  breeding,  and 
pursued  it  with  untiring  pertinacity  to  the  end  of  his  Short-horn 
career  in  1810.  He  bred  comparatively  few  animals  of  his  Duchess 
tribe,  although  equally  in-and-in  bred  as  the  Lady  Maynards.  Fol- 
jambe, as  an  early  sire,  begat  the  bull  Bolingbroke  (86),  in  the  cow 


44  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Young  Strawberry,  and  also  begat  the  cow  Phoenix,  in  the  dam  of 
Young  Strawberry  (Lady  Maynard),  so  that  Bolingbroke  was  closely 
related  to  Phoenix  in  other  ways  than  being  her  half  brother.  Then 
in  Phoenix,  his  half  sister  and  aunt,  Bolingbroke  begat  Favorite  (252), 
and  Favorite  in  his  own  mother  and  sister  (Phoenix)  begat  Young 
Phoenix,  and  in  Young  Phoenix  (his  own  daughter  as  well  as  sister) 
he  begat  Comet  (155),  the  famous  1000  guinea  bull  in  the  final  sale  of 
Ceiling's  herd  in  1810.  In  addition  to  this  intensely  close  breeding. 
Favorite  was  used  to  his  own  heifers  without  stint  in  Colling's  herd 
even  to,  in  one  instance  (Robert  Colling's  Clarissa),  the  sixth  genera- 
tion, producing  in  every  case  sound,  healthy  offspring.  No  bull  in 
Short-horn  history  has  so  many  animals  which  trace  back  to  him  as 
Favorite.  Not  only  to  his  own  immediate  family  relations,  but  to  the 
Duchesses  and  other  tribes  does  his  blood  extend,  so  that  running 
back  to  Favorite,  in  thousands  of  bulls  and  cows,  from  that  day  to 
this,  his  blood  has  been  commingled  in  near  and  remote  relationship. 

Concurrent  with  Charles,  his  brother  Robert  had  been  equally  vig- 
ilant. 3fHe  had  selected,  probably,  quite  as  good  animals  from  the 
herds  of  Messrs.  Milbank  of  Barningham,  Hill  of  Blackwell,  Best, 
Watson,  Wright  of  Manfield,  and  Sir  William  St.  Quintin  of  Scamp- 
ston,  all  of  whom  were  celebrated  breeders  of  Short-horn  or  Tees- 
water  cattle.* 

Hubback  had  been  used  by  Robert  one  year,  and  by  Charles  two 
years,  as  before  stated,  and  sold  by  the  latter  at  ten  years  of  age, 
without  a  name,  to  go  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Hubback,  in  Northum- 
berland, who  gave  his  own  name  to  the  bull,  and  in  whose  possession 
he  died.  After  leaving  Colling,  little  is  known  of  Hubback's  produce 
or  to  what  classes  of  cows  he  was  bred.  The  name  of  Mr.  Hubback, 
the  last  owner  of  the  bull,  does  not  appear  as  a  breeder  in  the  early 
volumes  of  the  Herd  Book. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  while  the  Collings  were  thus  vigor- 
ously busy  in  working  up  their  herds,  the  older  breeders  around 
them  had  not  been  idle.  The  selections  of  the  Collings  were  made 
from  among  the  cattle  of  those  breeders,  and  it  may  well  be  supposed 
that  they  still  retained  in  their  hands  animals  probably  equal  in 
quality  to  any  with  which  they  had  parted ;  but  wanting  the  dash 
and  enterprise  of  the  later  established  Barmpton  and  Ketton  breed- 
ers, they  failed  to  bring  their  own  herds  into  equally  prominent 
notice. 

*  Thornto-  s  Circular. 


FOLJAMBE.  45 

Succeeding  Hubback,  in  Charles  Ceiling's  herd,  we  recall  and 
notice  Foljambe  (263)  [Hubback 's  grandson  on  the  dam's  side],  by 
Richard  Barker's  bull  (52),  already  mentioned.  "  Barker's  bull  was  of 
good  size  and  symmetry,  but  rather  a  hard  handler,  the  winner  of  a 
premium,  as  a  calf,  in  the  year  1784,  at  Darlington,  and  generally 
known  as  'Dicky  Barker's  black  nose.'"  Foljambe  also  had  a  dark 
nose,  so  said  Mr.  Bates.  Foljambe's  dam  was  Mr.  Hall's  cow  Haugh- 
ton  (by  Hubback),  before  named,  and  "Colling  considered  that  Fol- 
jambe left  him  the  best  stock  which  he  had.*  He  is  described  as  a 
useful,  thick  beast,  handle  good,  wide  back,  dark  face,  and  was  sold 
by  Mr.  Coates  to  Mr.  Foljambe,!  as  a  yearling  for  50  guineas  "  J  ($260). 

Another  description  says  that  "  he  was  a  large,  strong  bull,  a  useful, 
big,  bony  beast,  of  great  substance." 

Thus  the  brothers  Colling  progressed.  The  prices  of  the  Tees- 
waters  at  that  day  were  low.  -  The  country,  outside  the  counties  where 
they  were  bred,  knew  little  either  of  the  cattle  or  their  value.  Wais- 
tell  and  Robert  Colling  had  bought  Hubback  for  ten  guineas  (about 
$52),  and  Charles  paid  them  only  eight  guineas  ($42)  for  him ;  and  no 
wonder  that  they  so  bought  him,  when  he.  had  been  serving  cows 
indiscriminately  at  one  shilling  (or  22  cents)  each!  "Mrs.  Charles 
Colling  ridiculed  her  husband's  niggardliness  in  giving  Mr.  Maynard 
only  30  guineas  for  the  cow  Favorite  (Lady  Maynard)  and  10  guineas 
($52)  for  her  heifer,  Young  Strawberry,  although  he  bid  50  guineas 
($260)  to  Mr.  Scott  for  'Sockburn  Sail,'  the  ancestress  of  the  pres- 
ent Blanche  tribe.  The  cows  lay  out  in  the  fields,  having  a  little  hay 
taken  out  to  them  in  bad  weather,  but  always  calved  in  a  warm  place. 
The  calves  had  new  milk  till  they  were  two  or  three  weeks  old,  then 
for  a  month  they  got  half  and  half  (new  and  skim),  afterwards  skim 
milk  with  linseed  bran,  or  other  meal,  or  porridge ;  they  were  then 
turned  out  to  grass,  getting  nothing  else.  Nurse  cows  were  kept  for 
the  bull  calves,  going  out  on  hire."  J 

The  Collings  are  the  first  mentioned  Short-horn  breeders  who  let 
bulls  out  on  hire.  Mr.  John  Hutchinson,  in  a  letter  dated  in  1821, 
says  :  "  Charles  Colling,  being  an  established  breeder,  exhibited  in 
the  spring  of  1790,  his  first  two  yearling  bulls  for  sale,  and  succeeded 


*  That  Collbg  so  said,  we  have  no  doubt.  But  from  all  collateral  testimony  we  have  as  little 
doubt  that  it  wi.s  the  result  of  his  chagrin  at  having  so  prematurely  parted  with  Hubback,  before 
he  knew  the  intrinsic  value  of  his  blood  and  stock. — L.  F.  A. 

"t  There  appears  to  be  some  discrepancy  as  to  the  different  transfers  and  ownerships,  as  well  as 
to  which— Hall  or  Colling— really  bred  Foljambe.— L.  F.  A 

%  Thornton's  Circular. 


46  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

in  selling  them  both.  Mr.  Coates,  of  Smeaton,  was  the  purchaser  of 
one  for  £26  ($130),  and  Mr.  R.  Thomas  of  the  other,  for  ^23 
($115)."  Mr.  Bailey,  the  Durham  historian,  writes  in  1810,  that 
"Messrs.  Colling  and  Mason  let  bulls  out  by  the  year  at  fifty  ($260) 
to  one  hundred  guineas  ($520)  each,  and  these  celebrated  breeders 
cannot  supply  the  demand  for  the  pure  blood,  which  they  are  cautious 
of  preserving,  and  which  takers  of  bulls  are  become  so  well  acquainted 
with  that  the  prices  they  give  are  in  proportion  to  the  good  qualities 
of  the  individuals,  and  merits  of  their  progenitors,  more  regard  being 
paid  to  their  pedigree  than  to  anything  else.  Messrs.  Colling  have  fre- 
quently sold  cows  and  heifers  for  ;£ioo  ($500)  each,  and  bull  calves 
at  the  same.  Charles  Colling  has  refused  ^"500  ($2,500)  for  a  cow, 
and  in  the  year  1807,  Mr.  Mason  refused  ^700  ($3,500)  for  a  cow."* 
"  The  most  noted  breeders  who  hired  Charles  Ceiling's  bulls,  were 
John  Charge,  of  Newton,  who  used  Favorite  (252);  Mr.  Mason,  of 
Chilton;  Mr.  Jobling,  of  Styford;  Mr.  Gibson,  of  Corbridge;  Sir 
George  Strickland ;  Mr.  Robertson,  of  Ladykirk ;  and  Mr.  Ostler,  of 
Aylesby  and  Audley.  Windsor  (696)  was  used  by  Mr.  Hustler  in 
1808-9;  Mr.  Parker,  of  Malton,  had  him  five  years,  and  George  III. 
had  him  for  three  years,  at  ^40  ($200)  a  year,  for  service  on  the 
royal  farm  at  Windsor,  whence  he  was  named,  "f 

THE  MODE  OF  CHARLES  COLLING'S  BREEDING. 

To  keep  a  run  of  Charles  Ceiling's  system  of  breeding:  after 
Hubback  (319)  he  used  Foljambe  (263),  who  got  Bolingbroke  (86), 
and  Bolingbroke  got  Favorite  (252),  calved  in  1793.  He  succes- 
sively used  Favorite,  with  occasional  interims,  for  thirteen  years, 
beginning  his  services  at  two  years  old.  At  ten  years  old  Favorite 
begat  Comet  (155),  calved  in  1804;  and  the  next  year,  at  eleven  years 
old  he  begat  North  Star  (458),  full  brother  to  Comet,  calved  in  1805. 
These  two  bulls,  celebrated  in  their  day,  were  out  of  Young  Phoenix, 
his  daughter  and  sister  (she  out  of  Phoenix,  mother  to  Favorite,  the 
sire  of  Young  Phoenix),  as  close  interbreeding,  perhaps,  as  could  be 
made. 


*  Mr.  Mason  was  contemporary  with  the  Ceilings,  a  distinguished  Short-horn  breeder,  and 
many  animals  of  his  herds  were  probably  equal  in  excellence  to  those  of  the  Ceilings,  as  he  had 
early  used  the  Colling  bulls.  His  "  Mason's  white  bull  "  (421),  was  got  by  either  Bolingbroke  or 
Favorite,  out  of  Ceiling's  Lady  Maynard.  Many  descendants  of  his  stock  are  found  in  the  Herd 
Books.— L.  F.  A. 

t  Thornton's  Circular. 


COLLING'S  MODE  OF  BREEDING.  47 

/  That  Colling  bred  his  cattle  with  one  persistent  object  in  view 
(  there  can  be  no  question.  It  was  to  obtain  the  greatest  concentration 
}  of  good  blood  possible  in  his  herd.  His  original  cows  he  had  selected 
[  from  among  the  best  at  his  command,  and  in  order  to  cement  that 
blood  in  its  greatest  strength,  worked  the  blood  of  each  into  the 
descendants  of  others,  as  far  as  is  possible,  so  that  it  should  be  com- 
mon to  all.  His  original  animals  were  not  alike,  differing  much  in 
their  various  qualities,  yet  all  having  more  or  less  g6od  and  sterling 
points  of  character.  Those  different  points  will  be  more  fully  no- 
ticed hereafter.  In  Favorite  (252),  Colling  judged  that  the  best 
blood  could  be  transmitted  more  successfully  than  through  the  veins 
of  any  other  bull.  Nor  was  he  mistaken.  He  used  him  for  two, 
three,  four,  and  in  one  recorded  instance  five  successive  crosses  in 
his  own  heifers,  with  decided  success  and  no  deterioration  of  consti- 
tution or  quality  in  the  very^ast  cross  he  made  in  their  production. 
At  the  final  sale  of  his  herd  in  1810,  there  were  more  of  his  animals 
running  back  into  the  blood  of  Favorite  than  in  all  the  other  bulls 
he  had  used,  put  together.  The  follwing  analysis  is  so  well  expressed 
that  I  quote  it  from  the  Rev.  J.  Storer,  in  Mr.  Carr's  late  History  of 
the  Booth  Short-horns : 

"  Few  people  have  any  idea  of  the  amazing  extent  to  wnicn  in- 
and-in  breeding  was  carried  on  by  the  Brothers  Colling ;  and  so  great 
was  the  complication  it  involved,  that  few  of  those  who  know  the 
outline  of  the  circumstances,  can  adequately  realize  all  their  intrica- 
cies. It  is  almost  impossible  to  describe  even  proximately  in  some 
of  its  stronger  features  the  system  they  pursued.  But  the  attempt 
ought  to  be  made ;  for  the  Messrs.  Colling's  system  of  in-and-in  breed- 
ing, is  not  only  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  authentic  cases  in  the 
history  of  the  reproduction  of  animals  with  which  we  are  acquainted, 
but  the  earlier  Booth  bulls  were  amongst  those  most  strongly  sub- 
jected to  its  influence. 

"  Mr.  C.  Colling's  bull  Bolingbroke,  and  his  cow  Phoenix,  were 
brother  and  sister  on  the  sire's  side,  and  nearly  so  on  the  dam's. 
They  were  of  the  same  family ;  and  the  only  difference  in  descent 
was,  that  Bolingbroke  was  a  grandson  of  Dalton  Duke,  while  Phcenix 
was  not.  But  this  apparent  difference,  slight  as  it  is,  was  not  all  real; 
for  Dalton  Duke  also  contained  some  portion  of  their  common  blood. 
Arithmetically  stated,  the  blood  of  the  two  being  taken  and  divided 
into  thirty-two  parts,  twenty-nine  of  those  parts  were  of  blood  common 
to  both,  rather  differently  proportioned  between  them.  Phoenix  had 
sixteen  of  those  parts,  Bolingbroke  thirteen ;  the  latter  having  also 


48  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

three  fresh  parts  derived  from  Dalton  Duke,  which  made  up  the 
thirty-two. 

"  Being  thus  very  nearly  own  brother  and  sister,  they  were  the  joint 
parents  of  the  bull  Favorite.  That  bull  was  next  put  to  his  own 
mother  Phoenix,  so  nearly  related  to  him  on  his  sire's  side  also ;  and 
the  produce  was  Young  Phoenix.  To  this  heifer  Favorite  was  once 
more  put,  she  being  at  once  his  daughter  and  more  than  own  sister  too. 
For  their  two  sires,  Bolingbroke  and  Favorite,  were  not  only  as  nearly 
as  possible  consanguineous  with  each  other,  but  also  with  the  cow 
Phoenix,  to  which  they  were  both  put.  The  result  was — Comet  (155). 

"  Nor  was  this  all.  The  system  was  carried  much  further.  The 
celebrated  Booth  bull  Albion  (14)  was  not  only  a  son  of  the  in-and- 
in  Favorite  bred  Comet,  but  his  dam  was  a  granddaughter  of  Favorite 
on  both  sides,  and  descended  besides  from  both  the  sire  and  the  dam 
of  Favorite. 

"  It  is  not  so  possible  to  make  an  exact  statement  with  regard  to 
Pilot  (496),  for  it  is  not  known  whether  he  was  by  Major  (398),  or 
Wellington  (680).  Nor  does  it  much  matter;  for  five-eighths  of 
Major's  and  three-quarters  of  Wellington's  blood  were  derived  from 
Favorite,  by  repeated  inter  crossings ;  and  Pilot's  dam  was  not  only 
by  Favorite,  but  she  was  also  the  granddaughter  of  Foljambe,  the  sire 
of  both  the  parents  of  Favorite. 

"Marshal  Beresford  (415)  was,  like  Albion,  a  son  of  Comet  (155); 
and  his  dam  was  by  a  grandson  of  Favorite,  out  of  a  daughter  of 
Favorite. 

"  Suworrow  (636)  was  by  a  son  of  Favorite ;  and  his  dam  was  a 
daughter  of  Favorite ;  and  Twin  Brother  to  Ben  (660)  was  from  a 
cow  by  Foljambe,  the  double  grandsire  of  Favorite. 

"  Even  this  does  not  exhaust  the  subject.  Many  of  the  above 
mentioned  animals  were  otherwise  related  to  each  other  by  a  common 
descent  from  Hubback,  and  from  other  progenitors. 

"Albion  has  been  called  'The  Alloy  Bull.'  I  think  with  very  little 
reason.  When  it  is  remembered  that  he  is  the  seventh  in  descent 
from  that  blood,  and  that  therefore  only  one  part  of  his  blood  came 
from  'The  Alloy,'*  against  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  parts  which 
were  not  derived  from  it,  the  chances  against  either  good  or  evil 
resulting  therefrom  were  infinitesimally  small ;  and  so  no  doubt  such 
an  acute  observer  as  Mr.  Booth  well  knew." 


*  Through  Washington  (674).     These  bulls  will  be  more  particularly  noticed  hereafter  in  our 
remarks  upon  the  Booth  herds. — L.  F.  A. 


COLLING'S  MODE  OF  BREEDING. 


49 


To  further  illustrate  Ceiling's  in-and-in  breeding,  we  give  two  dia- 
grams of  descent  first  published  in  Vol.  i,  American  Herd  Book : 


EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES. 


1.  Bull,  Hubback. 

2.  Dam  of  Haughton. 

3.  Richard  Barker's  bull. 

4.  Cow,  Haughton. 


5.  Bull,  Foljambe. 

6.  Cow,  Young  Strawberry. 

7.  Bull  Dalton  Duke. 

8  and  10.     Cow,  Lady  Maynard.  14.     Bull,  Comet. 
9.     Bull,  Bolingbroke. 


11.  Cow,  Phoenix. 

12.  Cow,  Young  Phoenix. 

13.  Bull,  Favorite. 


While  on  this  subject  we  give  a  diagram  of  another  animal,  the  cow 
Clarissa,  which  we  find  on  record,  bred  by  Robert  Colling,  to  show 
the  depth  of  a  particular  strain  of  blood  which  he  acquired.  This 
cow,  it  appears,  has  six  consecutive  crosses  or  63-64^13  parts  of  the 
blood  of  Favorite.  Her  pedigree  (Vol.  i,  E.  H.  B.)  runs  thus : 
"Clarissa,  roan,  calved  in  1814,  bred  by  Mr.  R.  Colling,  got  by  Wel- 
lington (680),  out  of ,  by  Favorite  (252), — by  Favorite, — by 

Favorite, — by  Favorite, — by  Favorite, — by  Favorite, — by  a  son  of 
Hubback."  (See  diagram  on  next  page.) 

In  addition  to  the  pedigree  of  Clarissa,  we  have  run  out  that  of 
Wellington,  her  sire,  which  also  goes  back  to  Favorite,  showing  that 
although  Clarissa's  dam  had  six  crosses  of  Favorite's  blood,  Clarissa 
is  met  on  the  other  side  by  a  bull  deeply  impregnated  with  the  blood 
of  Favorite  also.  Clarissa  proved  a  good  breeder,  and  was  the  dam 
of  several  excellent  animals. 

After  saying  so  much  of  the  Collings,  it  may  be  asked,  why  they 
so  rapidly  achieved  a  reputation  as  Short-horn  breeders,  so  young  in 

4 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


the  business,  and  outstripped  their  older  neighbors  to  whom  they 
were  indebted  for  the  original  excellence  in  their  herds,  and  had 
adopted  a  course  of  breeding  opposed  to  the  common  opinions  of 
the  breeders  around  them,  viz. :  the  in-and-in  system  of  Bakewell. 


1.  Bull,  Hubback. 

2.  Son  of  Hubback. 

3.  Cow,  by  son  of  Hubback. 

4.  Bull,  Favorite. 

5.  ist  Cow  by  Favorite. 

6.  2d  Cow  by  Favorite. 

7.  3d  Cow  by  Favorite. 


EXPLANATION  OF  FIGURES. 

8.    4th  Cow  by  Favorite.  15. 

o.     sth  Cow  by  Favorite.  16. 

10.  6th  Cow  by  Favorite.  4. 

11.  Cow,  Clarissa. 

12.  Bull,  Wellington,  sire  of 

Clarissa.  17. 

13.  Bull,  Comet.  18. 

14.  Cow,Wildair. 


Cow,  Young  Phoenix. 

Cow,  Phoenix. 

Same  bull  Favorite  on  the 
side  of  Clarissa's  sire,  as 
on  the  sire  of  her  dam. 

Bull,  Bolingbroke. 

Granddaughter  of  Hubback. 


They  bred  their  stock  intensely  and  pertinaciously  in-and-in,  as 
has  been  seen  by  the  crosses  and  diagrams  we  have  given,  to  the 
closest  relationship.  They  had  selected  from  the  herds  of  other 
breeders  not  only  as  good  blood  as  they  could  obtain,  but  as  good 
animals,  and  by  their  course  of  close  breeding  had  concentrated 
that  blood  into  its  utmost  compactness  in  their  stock,  thus  enabling 
their  bulls  to  transmit  it  with  nearly  absolute  certainty  into  the  thor- 
oughbred animals  of  their  get.  Of  course  their  herds  had  acquired 
a  character  and  type  of  their  own,  measurably  distinct  from  those  of 
other  breeders,  who,  in  following  the  old  idea  that  near  relations 
should  not  be  crossed  in  stock  breeding,  possessed  herds  of  miscella- 
neous character,  although,  perhaps,  in  many  points  of  excellence 
quite  equal  to  the  Collings.  We  do  not  aver  that  the  Ceilings' 
stock  was  better  than  that  of  some  of  the  other  careful,  painstaking 


DURHAM    OX.  51 

breeders  around  them,  other  than  in  their  fixed  and  undeviating 
characteristics,  and  their  thus  acquired  power  of  transmitting  those 
characteristics  into  their  progeny,  when  put  upon  cows  of  blood  not 
related  to  them.  This  the  deeply  in-and-in  bred  Colling  bulls  did, 
beyond  a  question,  and  hence  their  rapidly  acquired  popularity. 

Still,  the  Short-horns  were  a  local  breed  of  cattle,  confined  chiefly 
to  the  counties  of  ancient  Northumbria,  and  the  best  of  them  were 
to  be  found  in  and  about  the  valley  of  the  Tees.  The  Collings,  in 
the  exercise  of  their  usual  foresight  and  sagacity,  determined  to  give 
their  cattle  a  wide  reputation  through  the  kingdom,  and  for  that  pur- 
pose Charles  prepared  the 

DURHAM  Ox 

for  public  exhibition.  As  -this  ox  achieved  a  wide  reputation  and 
successfully  drew  the  merits  of  the  Short-horns  to  the  attention  of 
the  cattle  breeding  public,  although  it  has  been  frequently  published, 
a  full  account  of  him  will  be  repeated.  He  was  among  the  earliest 
calves  got  by  Favorite  (252),  "bred  in  the  year  1796,  and  out  of  a 
common  black  and  white  cow,  bought  for  Charles  Colling  by  John 
Simpson,  at  Durham  Fair,  for  ^14  ($70)."*  Although  the  dam  of 
the  Durham  Ox  was  said  to  have  been  "  a  common  cow,"  from  the  price 
which  Colling  paid  for  her,  and  the  marvellous  excellence  and  beauty 
of  the  ox  descended  from  her,  it  is  altogether  probable  she  possessed 
much  of  the  "common  "  Short-horn  blood  of  the  vicinity. f  Yet,  from 
the  "  black  "  in  her  she  may  not  have  been  highly  bred,  but  of  remark- 
ably good  quality.  This  calf,  made  a  steer,  Colling  fed  up  to  his 
greatest  flesh-taking  capacity  until  nearly  five  years  old,  when  he  had 
attained  a  weight  of  3024  pounds.  He  was  then  purchased  to  be 
exhibited,  by  Mr.  Bulmer  of  Harmby,  in  February,  1801,  for  ^140 
($700).  Bulmer  had  a  traveling  carriage  made  to  carry  him  through 
the  country,  and  after  traveling  and  exhibiting  him  five  weeks,  sold 
the  carriage  and  ox  at  Rotherham  to  John  Day,  for  ^250  ($1,250). 
On  the  i4th  of  May  ensuing,  Mr.  Day  could  have  sold  him  for  ^525 
($2,625)  J  on  tne  J3tn  °f  June,  for  ^1,000  ($5,000),  and  on  the  8th  of 
July,  for  ^2,000  ($10,000),  but  he  refused  all  these  offers,  which  were 
strong  proofs  of  the  excellence  of  the  ox,  as  well  as  his  exhibiting 

*  Thornton's  Circular. 

t  The  ox,  like  his  sire,  Favorite,  was  light  roan  in  color.  Did  not  that  color,  like  the  wonder- 
ful excellence  he  otherwise  possessed,  demonstrate  the  certainty  with  which  the  highly  concen- 
trated blood  of  Favorite  was  capable  of  being  thrown  into  his  produce? 


52  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

value.  Mr.  Day  traveled  with  him  nearly  six  years,  through  the 
principal  parts  of  England  and  Scotland,  till  at  Oxford,  on  the  i9th 
of  February,  the  ox  dislocated  his  hip  bone,  and  continued  in  that 
state  till  the  i5th  of  April,  when  he  was  killed,  and  notwithstanding 
he  must  have  lost  considerable  flesh  during  these  eight  weeks  of 
illness,  yet  his  dead  weight  was : 

Four  quarters, 2322  pounds. 

Tallow, 156       " 

Hide 142      " 

2620  pounds. 

This  was  at  the  age  of  eleven  years,  under  all  the  disadvantages  of 
six  years  traveling  in  a  jolting  carriage,  and  eight  weeks  of  painful 
lameness.  At  ten  years  old  Mr.  Day  stated  his  live  weight  to  have 
been  nearly  3400  pounds. 

About  the  year  1806,  Robert  Colling  reared  a  thoroughbred  heifer, 
afterwards  called  the  "White  Heifer  that  Traveled,"  which  he  sent 
out  through  the  principal  agricultural  counties  for  exhibition ;  the 
date  of  her  birth  is  not  given  in  the  first  volume  E.  H.  B.,  where 
her  pedigree  is  recorded.  She  was  also  got  by  Favorite  (252),  her 
dam  called  "Favorite  Cow,"  also  bred  by  R.  Colling;  the  name  of 
"Favorite  Cow's  "sire  is  not  given.  Her  gr.  dam,  "Yellow  Cow," 
was  by  Punch  (531),  and  her  g.  gr.  dam  was  by  Anthony  Reed's  bull 
(538),  and  bred  by  Mr.  Best,  of  Manfield.  The  "White  Heifer" 
being  twinned  with  a  bull,  and  herself  not  breeding,  she  was  no 
doubt  fed  up  to  her  greatest  flesh-taking  capacity  during  her  life. 
Her  age,  when  slaughtered,  is  not  given,  but  the  account  states  that 
her  live  weight  could  not  have  been  less  than  2300  pounds,  and  her 
dead  (profitable)  weight  was  estimated  at  1820  pounds. 

There  were  other  extraordinary  large  and  heavy  cattle  bred  and 
fed  by  the  Short-horn  breeders  contemporary  with  the  Collings, 
whose  recorded  weights  we  might  give,  but  as  they  all  run  in  about 
the  same  scale,  it  is  not  important  to  record  them  here.  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  the  great  reputation  which  the  Collings  and  their 
animals  acquired  was  through  the  wider  knowledge  which  the  public 
abroad  obtained  of  them  by  these  public  exhibitions.  Thus  the 
Collings  became  conspicuously  known,  and  were  considered  by  those 
not  intimately  acquainted  with  the  other  breeders  around  them,  as, 
if  not  the  founders,  at  least  the  great  improvers  of  that  newly  adver- 
tised and  meritorious  race. 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  BREEDING.  53 

ROBERT  COLLING  AND  HIS  SHORT-HORN  BREEDING. 

Although  he  has  been  frequently  mentioned  in  the  account  of  his 
brother  Charles,  as  they  often  bred  their  stock  through  an  interchange 
of  bulls,  yet  Robert  had  a  herd  in  blood  distinctly  his  own,  and  bred 
many  cattle  as  highly  distinguished  in  their  merits  as  were  those 
of  Charles. 

Previous  to  his  taking  the  farm  at  Barmpton  in  the  year  1783,  he 
lived  at  Hurworth,  a  short  distance  away.  When  a  youth  he  had 
been  apprenticed  to  a  grocer,  but  his  health  declining,  he  embraced 
farming.  He  had  often  visited  Mr.  Culley,  a  noted  farmer,  stock 
breeder,  and  agricultural  writer,  and  took  lessons  from  him  in  farm- 
ing, turnip  growing,  and  stock  feeding.  He  had  obtained  Leicester 
sheep  from  Bakewell,  and  for  many  years  bred  and  sold  them  with 
great  success,  simultaneous  with  his  pursuit  of  Short-horn  cattle 
breeding.  His  annual  ram-lettings  were  extensive  and  profitable. 

Some  of  his  earliest  stock  he  obtained  from  Mr.  Milbank,  of 
Barningham.  They  were  considered  as  among  the  best  of  the  Tees- 
water  cattle,  and  noted  for  their  excellent  grazing  properties.  He 
also  selected  the  best  cows  to  be  obtained  from  other  breeders,  and 
having  the  bull  Hubback  (319),  as  previously  stated,  in  the  year  1783, 
by  which  he  had  seventeen  cows  served,  it  may  well  be  supposed 
that  he  made  a  ready  and  sure  start  through  the  best  blood  and  the 
best  animals  he  could  obtain  in  the  foundation  of  his  herd.  He 
bred  with  skill  and  judgment,  and  founded  several  different  families, 
or  tribes  of  females,  as  the  Wildair,  the  Red  Rose,  the  Princess, 
the  Bright  Eyes,  and  others,  which  became  in  future  hands,  as  well 
as  his  own,  widely  noted  as  the  bases  of  superior  herds.  He  also 
bred  many  noted  bulls.  Among  the  earliest  of  them  were  "  Broken- 
horn  "(95),  by  Hubback  (319),  etc.;  "Punch"  (513)  by  Broken-horn; 
Ben  (70),  and  "Twin  Brother  to  Ben"  (660),  by  Punch;  "Ceiling's 
(Robert)  white  bull"  (151),  by  Favorite  (252);  "Marske"  (418), 
by  Favorite  [his  dam-  and  grand  dam  also  by  Favorite ;  great  grand 
dam  by  Hubback  (319),— by  Snowdon's  bull  (612), — by  Master- 
man's  bull  (422), — by  Harrison's  bull  (292), — by  Studley  bull  (626); 
Marske  was  a  noted  bull,  useful  thirteen  years,  and  died  at  fifteen 
years  old] ;  "North  Star"  (459),  by  Favorite  [and  full  brother  to  the 
"White  Heifer  that  Traveled"]  ;  "Phenomenon"  (491),  by  Favorite; 
"Styford"  (629),  by  Favorite ;  besides  many  later  bulls  which  were 
sold,  or  occasionally  used  by  him,  or  let  for  service  to  other  breeders. 


54  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Among  the  cows  bred  by  Robert  Colling  was  one  which  has  ob- 
tained celebrity  through  her  descendants  as  "The  American  Cow;" 
and  it  has  been  a  subject  of  inquiry  during  late  years,  both  in  Eng- 
land and  America,  why  a  cow  so  ancient  in  lineage  should  have  been 
called  by  a  name  so  foreign  to  her  birth-place,  and  after  a  country 
where  the  Short-horns  at  that  time  were  almost  unknown.  We  first 
find  her  name  in  the  pedigree  of  Red  Rose,  in  first  edition  of  Vol.  i, 
p.  457,  E.  H.  B.,  as  follows:  "Red,  calved  in  1811,  bred  by  Mr. 
Hustler,  property  of  Mr.  T.  Bates,  got  by  Yarborough  (705),  dam 
(bred  by  R.  Colling,  and  called  The  American  Cow),  by  Favorite 
(252),  gr.  d.  by  Punch  (531),  g.  gr.  d.  by  Foljambe  (263),  g.  g.  gr.  d. 
by  Hubback  (319)." 

In  the  above  pedigree  The  American  Cow  is  originally  identified. 
In  Vol.  2,  p.  497,  first  edition  E.  H.  B.,  the  same  Red  Rose  is  again 
recorded  as  Red  Rose  ist,  her  dam  being  "The  American  Cow," 
as  before.  In  a  conversation  with  Mr.  John  Thornton,  of  London, 
when  in  this  country  in  the  winter  of  1870—71,  (who  is  as  well  versed 
in  English  Short-horn  pedigrees,  perhaps,  as  any  other,)  he  remarked 
that  he  had  never  learned  why  the  American  Cow  was  so  called, 
although  he  had  made  diligent  inquiries  in  England  for  the  reason. 

The  American  history  of  the  cow,  as  we  have  been  informed  on 
authority  which  we  deem  good,  is  this :  In  some  year,  not  long  after 
1 80 1,  a  son  of  Mr.  Hustler,  who  was  a  Short-horn  cattle  breeder  in 
Yorkshire,  emigrated  to  New  York,  and  brought  with  him  some  Short- 
horn cattle,  among  which  was  this  nameless  cow,  or  then  heifer, 
afterwards  dam  of  the  Red  Rose  ist,  which  his  father  bought  of 
Robert  Colling.  The  younger  Hustler  went  into  business  in  New 
York  City,  and  put  his  cattle  into  the  adjoining  county  of  Westchester. 
After  a  few  years  stay  in  America,  he  returned  to  England,  and  not 
finding  his  Short-horns  appreciated  on  this  side  the  ocean,  (as 
we  find  no  record  of  them  or  their  produce  in  this  country,)  Mr. 
Hustler  took  this  cow  back  with  him,  as  she  was  a  remarkably  good 
beast,  and  put  her  into  his  father's  herd.  Then,  on  being  put  to 
Yarborough,  she  became  the  dam  of  Red  Rose,  afterwards  purchased 
by  Mr.  Bates,  he  calling  her  Red  Rose  ist,  which,  in  his  hands,  was 
the  original  of  the  tribe  of  Red  Rose,  from  whom  many  excellent 
animals  have  descended.  The  only  English  account  we  have  of 
The  American  Cow,  aside  from  her  pedigree,  which  we  have  quoted, 
is,  that  "she  was  sent  to  America,  and  taken  back  to  England." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  follow  Robert  Colling  through  the  various 
particulars  of  his  breeding,  as  we  have  done  more  closely  with 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  BREEDING.  55 

Charles,  for,  as  has  been  previously  remarked,  they  bred  much  in 
concert,  followed  the  same  system  of  intercrossing  their  blood,  and 
in  fact  were  almost  identical  in  their  practice.  To  sum  up  the  results 
of  their  joint  action,  it  may  be  said  that  they,  in  the  midst  of  older 
and  more  experienced  breeders,  combatted  the  ancient  prejudices  of 
the  day,  and  through  their  in-and-in  system,  established  a  new  school 
in  breeding. 


56  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER    III. 

WERE   THE   COLLINGS   THE   EARLIEST  AND   CHIEF  IMPROVERS  OP 
THE  SHORT-HORNS? 

IN  the  discussion  of  this  question  a  wider  range  of  observation 
may  be  necessary  than  has  usually  been  taken  from  hearsay,  tradi- 
tion, or  even  what  in  some  cases  has  been  written  by  men  claiming  a 
personal  knowledge  of  the  subject.  Assertion  is  one  thing;  proof  is 
another  thing ;  and  sometimes  widely  different,  in  the  settlement  of 
facts.  It  has  long  been  so  commonly  reported  among  those  who 
have  never  gone  into  an  investigation  of  the  matter,  that  to  the 
Collings — especially  Charles — was  due  the  great  merit  of  transform- 
ing the  ancient,  coarse,  ungainly  race  of  Short-horns,  which  had  long 
existed  anterior  to  their  coming  upon  the  stage,  into  the  stately  and 
more  highly  perfected  condition  in  which  they  left  them,  that  it  may 
seem,  if  not  an  act  of  audacity,  at  least  a  bootless  task  to  combat  a 
belief  which  has  heretofore  been  so  commonly  entertained.  We 
shall,  however,  carefully  examine  all  the  facts  at  command  and  strive 
to  place  the  subject  in  as  true  a  light  as  possible. 

To  the  first  question:  "Were  the  Collings  the  earliest  improv- 
ers "  of  the  Short-horn  race  ?  our  previous  narrative  has  clearly 
shown  they  were  not.  At  the  outset  of  their  career  as  breeders  they 
found  the  Short-horns,  or  Teeswaters,  a  valuable,  profitable,  and 
highly  approved,  as  well  as  established  breed,  in  three  or  four  differ- 
ent counties  of  England,  where,  time  immemorial,  they  had  lived  and 
flourished ;  and  in  whatever  state  of  improvement  over  that  of  their 
ancient  progenitors  they  then  existed,  their  improvement  was  not 
made  by  the  Collings.  Therefore  their  claims  to  the  early  improve- 
ment may  be  dismissed  without  further  discussion. 

The  next  question  :  "  Were  they  the  chief  improvers  "  of  the  Short- 
horns of  their  own  day  ?  If  improved  at  all  during  their  career  is 
now  the  question  to  be  examined.  We  have  seen  that  when  the 
Collings  commenced  business  various  breeders  in  their  vicinity  had 
excellent  cattle.  All,  or  nearly  all,  the  bulls  anterior  to  their  time 


THE    COLLINGS    AS    IMPROVERS.  57 

which  the  English  Herd  Book  has  recorded  have  been  mentioned, 
and  many  of  the  chief  points  and  excellencies,  as  well  as  defects  of 
their  animals,  have  been  noticed,  and  every  bull  and  every  cow  to 
which  the  Ceilings  traced  their  best  or  choicest  blood  in  animals  of 
their  own  breeding  were  bred  by  others,  and  not  by  themselves. 
That  it  was  a  master  stroke  of  sagacity,  as  well  as  policy,  in  their 
collecting  some  of  the  best  cattle  to  be  found  on  which  to  base  their 
herds  will  be  conceded ;  for  having  the  tools  in  their  hands  the  value 
of  their  workmanship  in  the  use  of  thorn  could  best  be  judged. 

Let  us  follow  (although  it  may  be  repeating  a  portion  of  what  we 
have  already  stated)  the  course  of  the  Collings  somewhat  in  detail, 
for  it  is  only  in  details  that  accurate  results  can  be  gathered.  In  the 
year  1784  Charles  bought  the  Stanwir.k,  or  original  Duchess  cow, 
from  the  estate  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  in  Yorkshire.  The 
cow  Haughton  (by  Hubback)  he  soon  afterwards  bought  from  Mr. 
Hall;  and  in  1786  or  '87,  he  bought  "Favorite,  or  Lady  Maynard," 
and  her  daughter,  "Young  Strawberry,"  from  Mr.  Maynard.  Here 
were  four  prime  cows  to  start  with,  and  from  which  most  of  his 
animals  on  which  his  chief  reputation  was  a.cquired  descended.  In 
1784  he  bought  the  bull  Hubback  from  his  brother  Robert  and  Mr. 
Waistell,  neither  of  whom  bred  him.  In  the  pages  of  Vol.  i,  E.  H. 
B.,  are  found  some  animals  bred  by  Colling  having  a  double  cross  of 
Hubback ;  but  as  he  did  not  keep  the  bull  more  than  two  years,  not 
giving  time  enough  to  put  him  to  his  own  daughters,  except  as  the 
latter  were  yearlings,  it  is  not  probable  that  he  had  that  double  cross 
in  his  own  breeding.  Aside  from  this  we  have  the  authority  of  the 
late  Thomas  Bates,  who  was  familiar  with  Ceiling's  whole  course  of 
breeding,  that  he  made  no  such  second  cross  in  any  heifer  bred  by 
himself.  Of  course,  if  he  had  cows  with  a  double  cross  of  Hubback 
in  their  blood  he  must  have  obtained  them  from  other  parties,  of 
which  we  may  suppose  there  may  have  been  several  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, as  the  bull  had  been  freely  used  in  getting  calves,  as  before 
stated,  at  a  shilling  each.  Thus  he  had  an  early  infusion  cf  Hubback 
blood.  Next  to  Hubback  he  used  Foljambe,*  out  of  the  cow  Haugh- 
ton, and  she  by  Hubback,  thus  combining  the  Hubback  blood  through 
Foljambe  more  closely  in  his  herd.  Colling  bred  a  heifer,  by  Hub- 
back,  out  of  the  Duchess  (Stanwick)  cow,  but  we  have  no  record  of 
a  female  by  Hubback  out  of  either  Lady  Maynard  or  her  daughter, 
Young  Strawberry;  but  out  of  Lady  Maynard  he  .bred  the  cow 

*  Got  by  Barker's  (Richard)  bull  (52),  u  Dickey  Barker's  black  nose,"  previously  mentioned. 


58  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Phoenix,  by  Foljambe,  and  out  of  Young  Strawberry  (daughter  to 
Lady  Maynard,  and  half  sister  to  Phoenix)  he  bred  the  bull  Boling- 
broke  (88),  also  by  Foljambe.  Then  Bolingbroke  was  bred  to  his 
more  than  half  sister,  and  aunt,  Phoenix,  producing  Favorite  (252), 
and  then  this  Favorite  put  to  Phoenix  (his  own  mother,  and  more 
closely  related,  if  possible),  produced  the  cow  Young  Phoenix,  and 
she  in  turn  being  bred  to  Favorite,  her  own  sire  (brother  and  all 
other  sorts  of  close  relationship),  produced  Comet  (155),  a  bull 
individually  more  admired  than  any  other  one  of  his  day. 

This  system  of  interbreeding  Charles  Colling  pursued,  or  as  closely 
to  it  as  possible,  with  all  the  best  families  in  his  herd.  He  had 
selected  his  original  animals  with  an  eye  to  particular  models  of 
excellence.  He  could  not  find  a  finished  model  in  any  one  animal 
of  his  original  selections.  They  had  various  points  of  excellence,  as 
well  as  some  defects,  and  his  object  was  to  get  rid  of  their  defects 
and  combine  their  excellencies  into  the  younger  stock  so  as  to  create 
a  uniformity  of  character  as  near  his  own  standard  of  perfection  as 
possible.  He  had  in  the  bull  Favorite,  got  as  much  of  the  blood  of 
his  cow  Lady  Maynard,  and  through  Foljambe  of  Hubback's^  as 
was  probably  possible  to  obtain,  and  he  bred  from  Favorite  more 
or  less  for  thirteen  years,  as  long  as  he  was  useful. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  Colling  acted 'on  the  axiom  that  blood, 
in  order  to  be  most  useful  in  perpetuating  its  good  qualities  in  breed- 
ing, must  be  concentrated  as  closely  as  possible  in  the  veins  of  the 
breeding  animals,  as  only  through  such  concentration  of  blood  could 
its  individual  properties  and  character  be  transmitted  with  absolute 
certainty  to  their  progeny.  Thus  the  choicest  of  the  Colling  cattle 
had  a  uniformity  of  type  which  so  far,  provided  their  qualities  were 
good,  was  a  decided  improvement  in  them,  beyond  those  animals 
which  had  been  miscellaneously  bred  from  different  bulls  having  no 
blood  relations  with  each  other,  or  with  the  cows  to  which  they  were 
bred,  thus  striking  out  into  various  incongruities  of  character,  and 
transmitting  their  own  qualities,  even  if  of  the  best  kind,  with  no 
certainty  to  their  offspring.  Robert  bred  under  the  same  system  as 
did  Charles ;  but  it  is  unnecessary  to  follow  his  herd  with  the  same 
particularity  of  detail,  as  several  of  his  best  have  already  been 
noticed.  Many  pages  of  Vol.  i,  E.  H.  B.,  would  have  to  be  quoted 
to  illustrate  their  breeding. 

As  both  the  Collings  were  considerable  breeders,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  all  their  cattle  were  so  closely  interbred.  They  fre- 
quently bought  good  cows  from  other  breeders,  even  after  their  own 


THE  COLLINGS'  EARLY  CATTLE.        59 

choice  tribes  were  established;  these  cows  they  bred  to  their  best 
bulls,  and  sold  their  produce  to  different  breeders,  so  that  the  Herd 
Book,  not  originating  until  1822,  some  years  after  they  had  both 
given  up  cattle  breeding,  does  not  represent  all  the  animals  of  their 
herds.  Their  stock,  outside  of  the  choicest  families,  were  not  uni- 
form in  either  their  several  qualities,  or  individual  merits.  But 
having  prime  animals  of  their  best  families,  those  gave  them  their 
reputation  as  leading  breeders,  or  improvers  of  the  Short-horn  race. 

Comparing  the  various  characteristics  of  the  most  noted  cattle  in 
the  Colling  herds  let  us  see  what  was  said  of  them  by  their  con- 
temporaries : 

Lady  Maynard,  red  roan,  is  described  as  a  beautiful  cow,  and  her 
daughter,  Young  Strawberry,  color  not  given,  as  having  much  of 
her  character. 

Hubback  was  yellow  red  with  little  white,  a  smooth,  small  bull, 
and  the  quality  of  his  flesh,  hide  and  hair,  seldom  equaled ;  head 
good ;  horns  small  and  fine ;  breast  forward ;  handling  firm ;  shoulders 
rather  upright ;  girth  good ;  loins,  body  and  sides  fair ;  rumps  and  hips 
extraordinary ;  flank  and  twist  wonderful.  His  dam  a  beautiful  little 
cow,  and  became  so  fat  by  running  in  the  lanes  of  Darlington  that 
she  would  not  afterwards  breed  and  was  slaughtered.  She — the  dam 
of  Hubback — was  got  by  Banks'  bull,  of  Hurworth  (not  in  the  Herd 
Books),  and  he,  Banks'  bull,  had  a  great  belly.  The  grand  dam  of 
Hubback,  on  the  dam's  side,  was  bred  by  Mr.  Stephenson,  of  Ketton. 
Snowdon's  bull  (626),  sire  of  Hubback,  was  out  of  a  daughter  of  a 
cow  bought  from  the  same  Mr.  Stephenson. 

The  cow  Haughton  (dam  of  Foljambe),  yellow  red  and  white  (got 
by  Hubback),  her  dam  by  John  Bamlet's  bull  (not  in  Herd  Book), 
gr.  d.  by  Waistell's  bull  (669),  g.  gr.  d.  Tripes,  bred  by  C.  Pickering. 
We  find  no  description  of  her.  Charles  Colling  afterwards  bought 
Bamlet's  bull,  from  which  fact  we  presume  he  was  possessed  of  excel- 
lent qualities. 

Foljambe,  "white,  with  a  few  red  spots,  and  a  dark  nose;  handle 
good ;  wide  back ;  dark  face ;  a  large,  strong  bull ;  a  useful,  big,  bony, 
thick  beast  of  great  substance." 

Duchess  (the  Stanwick  cow),  "  Charles  Colling  bought  1 4th  June, 
1784,  for  ^"13  ($65),  a  massive,  short-legged  cow;  breast  near  the 
ground ;  a  great  grower,  with  wide  back,  and  of  a  beautiful  yellowish 
flaked  red  color."*  Colling  himself  said  that  "she  was  better  than 

*  Mr.  Bates,  in  Bell's  History. 


60  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

any  he  ever  produced  from  her,  though  put  to  his  best  bulls,  which 
improved  all  other  cattle."  She  was  bred  to  Hubback.  The  pro- 
duce was  a  heifer,  and  from  her  the  present  tribe  of  (Bates') 
Duchesses,  on  the  female  side,  are  descended. 

Cherry,  a  fine  cow,  bought  at  Yarm  Fair,  by  his  father,  also  came 
into  Charles  Colling's  possession,  and  from  her  he  bred  his  "  Cherry  " 
tribe.  We  have  no  description  of  her. 

It  was  conceded  by  a  company  of  old  breeders  in  1812,  in  discuss- 
ing the  question  of  the  improvement  of  Short-horns,  that  no  stock 
of  Mr.  Colling's  breeding  ever  equaled  Lady  Maynard,*  the  dam  of 
Phoenix,  and  grand  dam  of  Favorite  (252).  Robert  Colling  told  Mr. 
Wiley  that  his  brother's  and  his  own  cattle  were  never  better  than 
anybody  else's  until  his  brother  Charles  got  Maynard's  two  cows. 

From  the  above  descriptions  and  opinions  of  breeders  at  the  time, 
it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  little  uniformity  in  the  character  of 
the  Ceilings'  original  stock,  and  if  they  afterwards  acquired  a  uni- 
form excellence  in  their  several  herds — which,  no  doubt,  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  they  did — it  was  by  persistence  in  their  course  of 
in-and-in  breeding,  which  has  been  described. 

So  much  has  been  said  of  the  bull  Favorite  (252),  into  whose  blood 
more  good  Short-horns  of  the  present  time  trace  a  portion  of  their 
lineage  than  any  other  bull  of  his  day,  that  we  give  his  description. 
His  color  was  light  roan.  "  Mr.  Coates  thought  him  a  large  beast, 
with  a  fine,  bold  eye,  body  down,  low  back,  and  other  parts  very 
good.  Mr.  Waistell  said  Favorite  was  a  grand  beast,  very  large  and 
open,  had  a  fine  brisket,  with  a  good  coat,  and  as  good  a  handler  as 
ever  was  felt." 

"  His  (Favorite's)  dam  Phoenix  was  a  large,  open-boned  cow,  and 
coarser  than  her  dam — 'the  beautiful  Lady  Maynard' — partaking 
more  of  her  sire's  (Foljambe)  character.  Favorite,  the  son,  partook 
more  of  his  dam's  (Phoenix)  character,  and  possessed  remarkably 
good  loins,  long  and  level  hind  quarters ;  his  shoulder  points  stood 
wide,  and  were  somewhat  too  coarse,  and  too  forward  in  the  neck, 
and  his  horns,  in  comparison  with  Hubback's,  were  long  and  strong. 
His  sire,  Bolingbroke  (86),  was  by  Foljambe,  out  of  Young  Straw- 
berry (daughter  of  Lady  Maynard).  In  color  he  was  red,  with  a 
little  white,  and  the  best  bull  George  Coates  ever  saw.  Favorite 

*  The  judgments  of  men  are  sometimes  fallible.  We  think  there  must  be  some  error  in  this 
statement,  for  it  is  evident  that  the  stock  produced  from  her  would  not  have  held  so  high  a 
reputation  had  they  not  exhibited  some  particular  qualities  above  those  which  their  ancestry 
possessed. — L.  F.  A. 


THE    GALLOWAY    CROSS.  6l 

(252),  born  in  1793,  died  in  1809,  was  used  indiscriminately  upon  his 
own  offspring,  even  in  the  third  generation."  Yes,  even*  to  the  fifth 
and  sixth  generations  in  some  one  or  two  prominent  instances. 

As  Phoenix,  the  dam  of  Favorite,  has  been  partially  described  in 
connection  with  her  son,  her  measurement  is  here  given : 

Height, 4  feet  8     inches.  Length  of  quarter, .   I  foot  9    inches. 

Width  of  hip, .2    "    2M      "  Length  of  back, ...   5    "    i#      " 

Width  of  loin, I    "    7&      "  Girth  at  chime, 7    "    I 

Girth  of  shank,. ...  7^      "  Girth  at  neck, 3    "    2#      " 


THE  GALLOWAY  CROSS — REV.  HENRY  BERRY'S  YOUATT  HISTORY. 

We  now  arrive  at  an  episode  in  Short-shorn  annals — no  less  than 
the  introduction  of  the  notorious  "Alloy"  admixture,  through  the 
blood  of  a  Scotch  Galloway  cow,  into  the  herd  of  Charles  Colling. 
As  this  incident  in  its  partial  detail  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Berry  has 
given  rise  to  an  altogether  erroneous  idea  of  the  origin  of  the  "im- 
proved" Short-horns,  and  created  a  belief,  or  supposition,  that  the 
present  type  of  Short-horn  excellence  is  of  recent  date,  or  about  the 
year  1800,  through  an  admixture  of  "Galloway"  blood  with  the 
ancient  race,  a  full  history  of  the  matter  will  be  given. 

In  the  first  volume  E.  H.  B.,  Rev.  Henry  Berry,  of  Acton  Rectory, 
Worcestershire,  Eng.,  is  recorded  as  in  the  years  1821  and  '22,  the 
breeder  of  two  animals,  the  bull  Pirate  (500),  and  a  heifer,  called 
Rebecca.  The  dam  of  the  bull  was  bred  by  'Mr.  Hustler,  and  traces 
back  into  the  stock  of  Robert  Colling ;  the  dam  of  the  heifer  was 
bred  by  Mr.  Wright,  of  Cleasby.  To  these  he  afterwards  added  other 
animals,  and  became,  to  a  moderate  extent,  a  Short-horn  Breeder. 
In  addition  to  his  clerical  and  cattle  breeding  duties  he  appears  to 
have  been  somewhat  addicted  to  controversy,  and  engaged  in  dis- 
cussing the  relative  merits  between  the  Short-horn  and  Hereford 
breeds  of  cattle  as  feeding  or  flesh  producing  animals,  in  which  he 
advocated  the  Short-horns.  To  substantiate  their  claims  he  wrote  a 
pamphlet  entitlecl 

"IMPROVED  SHORT-HORNS,  AND  THEIR  PRETENTIONS  STATED, 
BEING  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THIS  CELEBRATED  BREED  OF  CATTLE, 
DERIVED  FROM  AUTHENTIC  SOURCES."  The  first  edition  was  issued 
in  the  year  1824. 

From  the  rather  ambitious  title  of  his  pamphlet  one  would  suppose 
that  an  elaborate  history  would  be  given.  Instead  of  any  such, 
he  gave  less  than  eleven  pages  in  large,  open  type,  slightly  alluding 


62  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

to  the  Short-horns  and  their  characteristics,  as  an  ancient  race,  with 
the  names  of  a  few  noted  early  bulls  owned  and  used  by  Charles 
Colling;  about  eighteen  pages,  enumerating  the  weights  of  various 
bullocks,  cows  and  heifers,  fed  for  slaughter ;  a  list  of  eleven  extra- 
ordinary milk  cows  owned  by  Jonas  Whitaker,  of  Otley,  in  Yorkshire 
(the  cows  derived  mainly  from  the  stocks  of  Robert  and  Charles 
Colling),  and  closing  with  extracts  from  the  lists  of  the  great  herd 
sales  of  the  two  Collings  in  1810  and  1818.  These,  with  three 
or  four  additional  pages  of  miscellaneous  matter,  fill  the  history. 
The  remainder  of  the  pamphlet  is  devoted  to  the  Hereford  contro- 
versy, which  is  now  of  little  consequence. 

This  pamphlet  was  reprinted  in  1830,  being  a  copy  of  the  other, 
with  no  particular  alteration  beyond  an  additional  preface.  We 
might  quote  at  large  from  Berry's  pamphlet,  but  as  his  historical 
matter  is  nothing  more  than  a  condensation  of  previous  history  which 
we  have  already  related  in  much  more  extended  remark,  it  is  unnec- 
essary here  to  repeat  it.  The  weights  of  cattle,  also,  which  he  gives, 
although  proving  their  great  size,  ripe  points,  good  feeding  .qualities 
and  early  maturity,  are  not  extraordinary,  compared  with  those  of 
a  later  period.  The  main  drift  of  his  account  aims  to  establish 
Charles  Colling  as  the  master-spirit  of  his  day  in  "  improving "  the 
Short-horn  race  of  cattle,  and  to  publish  the  fact  of  such  improve- 
ment to  the  world,  and  also  distinguish  Mr.  Whitaker,  from  whose 
herd  he  (Berry)  had  become  a  considerable  purchaser,  as  Ceiling's 
principal  successor  in  Short-horn  breeding  and  excellence. 

In  1834,  ten  years  after  Berry's  first  pamphlet  (in  1824),  an  elab- 
orate work  entitled  "CATTLE,  THEIR  BREEDS,  MANAGEMENT  AND 
DISEASES,"  purporting  to  give  a  history  of  the  various  races  and 
breeds  of  neat  cattle  belonging  to  the  British  Islands,  was  published 
in  London.  This  was  edited  under  the  superintendence  of  "The 
Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,"  of  which  the  late 
Lord  Brougham  was  the  head.  The  work  was  compiled  by  William 
Youatt,  a  veterinary  surgeon,  of  Middlesex  Hospital,  London,  a  man 
of  ability,  and  in  his  profession,  of  extended  repute.  The  historical 
matter  of  his  book  was  drawn  from  various  sources  through  indi- 
vidual correspondents  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom.  In  addition 
to  that  were  added  several  hundred  pages  on  "Management  and 
Diseases,"  rendering  it  a  work,  with  some  exceptions,  of  standard 
English  authority  on  the  subjects  of  which  it  treated — particularly 
those  parts  which  Youatt  had  closely  studied,  and  with  which  he  was 
personally  familiar. 


THE    GALLOWAY    CROSS.  63 

In  the  "  Short-horn  "  history  of  his  book  Youatt,  himself,  seems  to 
have  taken  but  little  part.  He  jobbed  that  portion  of  it  out  to 
Mr.  Berry,  who,  in  its  compilation  made  it  quite  a  different  narrative 
from  that  which  his  previous  pamphlet  contained.  Much  that  was 
in  his  pamphlet  history  is  omitted,  and  much  that  was  not  in  the 
pamphlet  is  added  in  the  Youatt  history.  In  the  latter  Charles 
Colling  still  holds  the  chief  place  as  a  breeder  and  improver — a  few 
other  names  are  slightly  mentioned ;  but  Whitaker,  with  whom  it  is 
said  he  had  had  _a  difference  since  the  pamphlet  was  published,  is  not 
mentioned  at  all.  Berry  at  that  time  was  also  possessed  of  some  of 
the  "Alloy  "  blood,  or  Galloway  cross,  originally  introduced  by  Charles 
Colling,  of  which  he  makes  prominent  mention,  and  that  cross  he 
asserted  was  the  grand  feature  of  "improvement"  in  the  Short-horn 
race  which  he  now  claimed  that  Colling  had  established. 

As  this  pretended  improvement  to  which  so  much  importance  is 
ascribed  by  Berry,  was  the  sheerest  fallacy,  we  shall  lay  it  before  the 
reader.  In  the  year  1791,  after  Charles  Colling  had  been  ten  years  a 
Short-horn  breeder,  and  got  his  choicest  Short-horn  families  well 
established,  one  of  his  neighbors,  Colonel  O'Callaghan,  purchased 
two  Scotch  Galloway,  hornless  heifers,  and  brought  to  his  farm. 
He  agreed  with  Colling  to  have  the  heifers  served  to  his  bull 
Bolingbroke  (86),  with  the  understanding  that  if  the  calves  were 
bulls,  Colling  was  to  have  them;  if  heifers,  O'Callaghan  was  to  retain 
them.  One  of  these  heifers,  red  in  color,  dropped  a  red  and  white 
roan  bull  calf,  in  the  year  1792,  which  immediately  became  the  prop- 
erty of  Colling.  The  other  calf  was  a  heifer,  which  was  kept  by 
O-'Callaghan.  Colling  had  an  aged  Short-horn  cow,  "Old  Johanna," 
bred  by  himself,  of  moderate  quality,  got  by  "Lame  bull "  (358),  bred 
by  Robert  Colling.  That  is  all  which  is  given  of  her  pedigree,  no 
dam  being  mentioned.  Yet  Lame  bull  had  two  crosses  of  Hubback 
(319)  in  him,  and  his  great  grand  dam  was  by  James  Brown's  red 
bull  (97),  so  far  giving  him  an  excellent  pedigree.  Old  Johanna  not 
having  bred  a  calf  for  two  years,  was  put  to  this  Son  of  Bolingbroke 
(from  the  Galloway  heifer),  when  a  yearling,  and  he  got  her  in  calf. 
The  produce  was  another  bull  calf,  in  1794,  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke 
(280),  red  and  white  in  color,  which  Colling  also  kept,  being  three- 
fourths  Short-horn  and  one-fourth  Galloway  blood.  Colling's  cow 
Phcenix,  the  dam  of  Favorite  (252),  had  become  somewhat  aged, -and 
not  having  had  a  calf  since  the  birth  of  Favorite  in  1793  or  '94  (for 
both  those  dates  are  given  with  his  pedigree  in  the  English  Herd 
Book ;  but  Mr.  Bates  states  it  was  in  October,  1793,  that  he  was  born), 


64  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

although  put  to  good  bulls  and  not  breeding,  as  a  last  resort  she  was 
coupled  to  this  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke,  when  a  yearling,  in  1795, 
and  by  him  she  had  a  red  and  white  heifer  calf  in  the  year  1796. 
This  calf  Colling  called  "Lady."  She  had  one-eighth  part  Galloway 
blood.  Proving  a  very  good  one,  Colling  reared  this  heifer,  and  at 
maturity  bred  her  successively  to  his  bulls  Favorite  (252),  her  half 
brother;  Cupid  (177),  otherwise  closely  related  to  her;  and  to  Comet 
(155),  still  more  closely  related.  She  produced  the  heifers  Countess, 
one-sixteenth  Galloway,  by  Cupid;  and  Laura,  also  one-sixteenth 
Galloway,  by  Favorite,  both  of  which  proved  fine  cows.  Her  bull 
calves  were  Washington  (674),  one-sixteenth  Galloway,  by  Favorite; 
also  Major  (397),  one-sixteenth;  George  (276),  one-sixteenth;  and 
Sir  Charles  (592),  one-sixteenth  Galloway,  the  three  last  ones  by 
Comet  (155). 

The  two  "Alloy"  bulls,  "O'Callaghan's  Son  of  Bolingbroke  "  (469), 
and  "  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke  "  (280),  as  well  as  the  cows  Lady,  and 
her  daughters  Countess  and  Laura,  and  some  of  their  descendants, 
many  years  after  Colling  had  sold  them,  were  recorded  in  Vol.  i,  E. 
H.  B.,  with  their  Galloway  crosses  distinctly  given. 

Such,  through  a  single  cross  only  in  a  Galloway  cow,  is  the  origin 
of  Berry's  celebrated  "Alloy"  improvement,  on  the  female  side  of 
which  the  cow  "  Lady,"  only  one-eighth  of  that  blood  (never  breed- 
ing back,  either  by  herself  or  her  descendants,  to  the  Galloway  again, 
but  on  Short-horn  blood  continuously  thereafter),  was  the  sole 
founder. 

In  review  of  this  whole  matter  which  Mr.  Berry  has  worked  up, 
through  the  Galloway  cross  in  the  cow  Lady  and  her  progeny,  as  a 
deliberate  plan  for  improvement  by  Colling  on  the  blood  and  quality 
of  the  Short-horns,  we  think  it  simply  an  accident.  "  Old  Johanna  " 
had  apparently  ceased  breeding — not  having  dropped  a  calf  for  two 
years ;  and  Son  of  Bolingbroke,  in  the  failure  of  Ceiling's  better  bulls 
to  effect  it,  was  used  to  restore  her  to  fertility.  It  was  under  like 
circumstances  with  the  cow  Phoenix.  Although  she  had  brought 
several  calves,  and  then  ceased  to  breed  from  his  best  bulls,  Colling 
required  further  use  of  her,  and  as  a  last  resort,  put  her  to  the 
Grandson  of  Bolingbroke.  This  connection  producing  a  calf  (Lady), 
he  then  put  her  to  her  own  son,  Favorite,  and  Young  Phoenix,  the 
future  dam  of  Comet  (155),  was  the  produce.  If  Colling  really 
intended  the  improvement,  why  did  he  not,  after  she  had  produced 
Lady,  again  put  her  to  the  bastard  to  continue  his  improvement? 


THE    GALLOWAY    CROSS.  65 

We  think  he  would  surely  have  done  so,  if  he  had  any  faith  in  such 
a  process. 

Again :  as  to  the  real  "  improvement "  claimed  by  Mr.  Berry  in 
the  best  of  the  Colling  blood.  The  year  1796  was  the  earliest  date 
in  which  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke  had  any  produce  (that  being  the 
year  in  which  Lady  was  born),  and  none  of  his  blood  could  have 
gone  into  any  stock  previous  to  that  time,  as  the  "  Grandson "  was 
discarded  after  his  service  to  Phoenix.  We  hear  no  more  of  his 
produce  afterwards.  There  was  no  public  Herd  Book  then ;  nothing 
but  Ceiling's  own  private  record  to  show  Lady's  lineage ;  nor,  as  we 
shall  soon  show,  did  the  public  then,  or  even  at  the  sale  in  1810, 
fourteen  years  afterwards,  positively  know  the  fact.  These  things  all 
put  together  fully  prove,  as  we  think,  that  Mr.  Berry  got  up  the  story 
of  the  Galloway  bastard's  pretended  improvement  to  answer  a  purpose 
of  his  own. 

Ceiling's  best  bulls  were  used  in  each  cross  on  "Lady,"  and  her 
female  produce,  Countess  and  Laura,  and  their  female  progeny,  so 
that  Youatt,  in  a  foot  note  to  Berry's  exalted  estimate  of  the  good 
quality  of  "Lady,"  remarks:  "The  dam  of  Lady  was  also  the  dam 
of  the  bull  Favorite;  and  as  the  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke  is  not 
known  to  have  been  the  sire  of  any  other  remarkably  good  animal, 
it  is  most  probable  that  the  unquestionable  merit  of  Lady  and  her 
descendants  is  to  be  attributed  more  to  her  dam  than  to  her  sire." 

In  the  year  1810  Charles  Colling  made  a  public  sale  of  his  herd 
and  retired  from  breeding,  having  realized  a  fortune  sufficiently  ample 
for  the  residue  of  his  days.  A  more  extended  account  of  this  sale 
will  be  given  in  subsequent  pages,  as  we  wish  now  to  follow  the 
"Alloy  "  blood  until  it  passed  out  of- his  hands.  The  account  is  taken 
from  the  (English)  Times,  of  Friday,  October  19,  1810.  The  prices 
and  purchasers'  names  of  the  "Alloy,"  as  reported  at  the  sale,  are 
here  quoted  : 

Lady  [by  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke,  one-eighth  Galloway],  14  years 
old,  to  C.  Wright,  Cleasby,  Yorkshire,  206  guineas  ($1,071). 

Countess  [daughter  of  Lady,  one-sixteenth  Galloway],  by  Cupid, 
to  Major  B.  Rudd,  400  guineas  ($2,080). 

Laura  [daughter  of  Lady,  one-sixteenth  Galloway],  by  Favorite,  4 
years  old,  to  Mr.  Grant,  Lincolnshire,  210  guineas  ($1,092). 

Selina  [daughter  of  Countess  above,  and  one-thirty-second  part 
Galloway],  by  Favorite,  5  years  old,  to  Sir  H.  C.  Ibbotson,  Denton 
Park,  Yorkshire,  200  guineas  ($1,040). 

5 


66  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Cora  [daughter  of  Countess  above,  and  one-thirty-second  part 
Galloway],  by  Favorite,  4  years  old,  to  G.  Johnson,  Yorkshire,  70 
guineas  ($364). 

Major  (397)  [son  of  Lady,  above,  and  one-sixteenth  part  Gallo- 
way], by  Comet  (155),  to  Mr.  Grant,  Lincolnshire,  200  guineas 
($1,040). 

Alexander  (22)  [son  of  Cora,  above,  and  one-sixty-fourth  part 
Galloway],  by  Comet  (155),  i  year  old,  to  W.  C.  Fenton,  63  guineas 
($328). 

Young  Favorite  (254)  [a  calf,  and  son  of  Countess,  above,  and 
one-thirty-second  part  Galloway],  by  Comet,  to  P.  Skipworth,  Lin- 
colnshire, 140  guineas  ($728). 

George  (276)  [before  mentioned,  a  calf,  and  a  son  of  Lady,  by 
Comet,  and  one-sixteenth  part  Galloway],  to  Mr.  Walker,  Yorkshire, 
130  guineas  ($676). 

Young  Laura  [daughter  of  Laura,  by  Comet,  and  one-thirty-second 
part  Galloway],  2  years  old,  to  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  101  guineas  ($525). 

Young  Countess  [daughter  of  Countess,  by  Comet,  and  one-thirty- 
second  part  Galloway],  2  years  old,  to  Sir  H.  C.  Ibbotson,  206  guineas 

($1,071). 

Lucilla  [calf,  daughter  of  Laura,  by  Comet,  and  one-thirty-second 
part  Galloway],  to  Mr.  Grant,  106  guineas  ($551). 

Calista  [calf,  daughter  of  Cora,  by  Comet,  and  one-sixty-fourth 
part  Galloway],  to  Sir  Henry  Vane  Tempest,  Durham,  50  guineas 
($250). 

These  thirteen  animals  are  all  we  find  of  the  "  Alloy "  blood  in 
that  celebrated  sale,  and  the  prices  which  they  brought,  are  most  of 
them  extraordinary  in  comparison  to  those  for  the  other  thirty-four 
pure  Short-horns  sold  at  the  same  time.  The  entire  lot  of  thirteen 
females,  sold  for  $10,816,  or  an  average  of  $832  each.  But,  when  it 
is  recollected  that  these  Alloys  had  only  a  small  fraction  of  Gallo- 
way blood  in  them,  and  were  got  by  Ceiling's  best  bulls,  and  far 
above  the  others  in  flesh  (the  "  Alloys  "  being  very  moderate  milkers), 
and  most  of  them  sold  to  the  newer  breeders  who  were  taken  by  the 
good  looks  of  the  animals,  the  high  prices  will  be  readily  accounted 
for. 

Let  us  now  see  what  was  afterwards  said  of  the  Galloway  or 
"Alloy"  cross.  "Mr.  Mason  (a  noted  Short-horn  breeder)  stated 
that  he  did  not  recollect  any  experienced  breeder  who  made  an  offer 
for  the  mixed  breed,  and  he  was  sure  that  if  Charles  Colling  had  not 
made  that  mistake,  his  stock  at  Ketton  would  have  sold  for  some 


THE    GALLOWAY    CROSS.  67 

thousand  pounds  more.  This  was  read  by  Col.  Hellish  at  the  King's 
Head  (tavern),  Darlington,  and  caused  great  consternation  in  the 
neighborhood,  as  the  catalogue  did  not  mention  any  particulars  of 
the  breeding  of  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke."  [It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  first  volume  E.  H.  B.,  containing  the  pedigrees  of  Short- 
horn cattle  was  not  published  until  1822,  twelve  years  after  the  sale.] 
"  Many  were  disappointed,  and  others  said  if  they  had  known  of  the 
transaction  they  would  not  have  purchased.  Mr.  Robert  Colling 
also  told  Mr.  Wiley  that  he  had  no  doubt  it  was  quite  a  thousand 
pounds  ($5,000)  loss  to  his  brother  having  the  Alloy  blood  in  his 
herd." 

So  much,  therefore,  for  Mr.  Berry's  pretended  "  improvement "  of 
the  Short-horns  by  Charles  Colling  in  his  breeding,  rearing  and 
selling  thirteen  animals  only  of  this  Galloway  cross  at  the  final  sale 
of  his  herd.  He  might,  possibly,  previous  to  the  sale  have  bred  other 
animals  of  that  cross,  but  as  it  appears  that  the  "  Alloy  "  blood  was 
little  known  out  of  his  own  neighborhood,  if  he  did  breed  others, 
they  might  have  been  sold  by  him,  and  neither  their  names  nor  the 
names  of  their  produce  ever  got  into  the  Herd  Books. 

To  show  even  Ceiling's  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  "Alloys,"  he 
never  put  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke  to  any  superior  cow,  except 
Phoenix,  the  dam  of  Lady  (and  probably  would  not  have  used  him 
with  her,  if  she  would  have  bred  to  his  other  bulls,  which  she  would  not). 
Nor  did  he  use  any  Alloy  bull,  except  Lady's  first  calf,  Washington 
(694).  He  only  put  him  one  season,  to  three  or  four  cows,  and  they 
produced  nothing  of  any  prominent  value.  "  The  Alloy  blood  was 
confined  to  Lady,  her  daughters,  and  the  produce  of  her  daughters ; 
nor  did  he  suffer  it  to  run  into  any  other  of  his  choice  tribes.  The 
Alloys  were  deficient  in  milk,  which  always  kept  them  in  good  con- 
dition, and  being  round  and  plump  in  form,  with  fine  hair,  those 
qualities,  in  spite  of  their  slight  fraction  of  Galloway  blood,  while 
their  Short-horn  blood  being  of  the  very  best,  sold  them  so  well. 
Nor  were  the  prices  the  Alloy  family  brought  equal  to  some  other 
families.  The  Alloys  averaged  about  160  guineas;  the  Phoenix  fam- 
ily, including  Comet,  491  guineas  (without  Comet,  237  guineas); 
and  the  Daisy  family  175  guineas."  The  best  breeders  did  not  touch 
the  Alloys. 

Berry  winds  up  his  account  with  a  triumphant  flourish  over  this 
final  sale  of  Charles  Colling,  in  which  the  Alloys  sold  at  such  good 
prices,  and  as  a  consequence,  claimed  that  the  Galloway  cross  was 
an  actual  improvement  in  the  original  Short-horn  blood.  But  it 


68  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

must  be  remembered  that  Berry  was  a  partisan,  was  breeding  the 
Alloy  blood  in  his  own  herd,  and  so  states  the  fact,  besides  illustrating 
one  of  his  Alloy  cows  by  a  portrait  in  the  Youatt  history.  No  new 
revelations  had  been  made  to  him  of  the  merits  of  that  blood 
since  first  publishing  his  pamphlet  (ten  years  previous  to  his  Youatt 
story),  in  which  the  Galloway  is  not  mentioned.  In  view  of  the 
whole  matter,  we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  Berry's  claim  of  the 
Alloy  improvement  on  the  Short-horn  blood  and  quality,  was  simply 
a  fancy  of  his  own.  Had  Youatt  understood  the  truth  of  that  pre- 
tended history  and  its  unfounded  assumptions,  he  would  never  have 
given  it  a  place  in  his  book. 

Yet  there  being  no  other  Short-horn  history  before  the  public  than 
his,  and  so  many  years  had  elapsed  since  the  transaction,  it  was 
widely  copied  by  almost  every  subsequent  writer  on  Short-horn  cattle, 
both  in  England  and  America,  and  has  been  so  often  repeated  in 
agricultural  periodicals,  and  other  papers,  that  the  great  majority  of 
cattle  breeders,  on  both  sides  the  Atlantic,  have,  until  a  recent  period, 
believed  it.  There  are  few  well-bred  Short-horns  now  living  which 
have  more  than  a  remote  dash  of  the  "Alloy"  blood  in  their  veins; 
and  what  they  possess  is  so  minute  in  quantity  as  not  to  be  discov- 
erable to  their  detriment. 

We  have  given  more  space  to  this  pretended  "  improvement "  than 
it  deserves,  and  but  for  the  belief,  so  generally  prevalent,  of  its  truth, 
should  hardly  have  mentioned  it.  Yet,  honest  history  should  be 
vindicated.  It  is  but  candid,  however,  to  say,  that  in  the  remote 
earlier  breeding  of  the  Short-horns,  stealthy  crosses  with  other  breeds 
are  known  to  have  been  made ;  but  they  are  now  so  distant  in  time, 
and  as  no  "  improvement "  upon  the  original  Short-horn  blood  has 
been  claimed  for  any  such  possible  crosses,  they  need  not  be  made  a 
subject  of  remark.  Alien  Crosses,  in  ages  back,  have  been  traced  in 
the  blood,  or  turf  horse  of  England,  either  on  the  "  cold  "  blooded 
native  mares  of  the  country,  or  with  selected  foreign  ones  of  the 
neighboring  continent;  but  so  many  pure  bred  crosses  of  English, 
Arabian,  or  Barb  stallions  have  since  intervened,  that  the  well-authen- 
ticated pedigrees  of  modern  date  are  acknowledged  by  record  in  the 
English  Stud  Books.  And  so  with  all  our  modern  Short-horn  cattle 
which  can  trace  their  pedigrees  into  the  records  of  the  earlier  volumes 
of  the  English,  and  from  them  into  the  American  Herd  Books.  All 
are  "  Herd  Book  "  animals ;  but  those  who  prefer  to  run  pedigrees  back 
to  their  remotest  sources,  will  make  their  selections  of  those  strains 
of  blood  which  best  suit  their  genealogical  preferences. 


CHARLES  COLLING'S  FINAL  SALE.  69 

Animal  physiology  is  so  critical,  and  so  subtle  a  science,  and  the 
laws  of  descent  are  so  various  in 'their  operation,  sometimes  striking 
back  into  the  characteristics  of  a  distant  ancestor  deficient  in  good 
quality,  and  reproducing  an  almost  exact  likeness,  that  those  who 
aim  at  the  highest  style  of  perfection  in  their  animals  will  scrutinize 
closely  the  strains  of  blood  through  which  they  have  descended.  We 
cannot  but  consider  that  Mr.  Berry,  in  his  exaltation  of  the  Galloway 
cross,  has  done  a  decided  injury  to  the  Short-horn  interest  by  striv- 
ing to  inculcate  the  belief  that  this  noble  race  may  be  improved  by 
crosses  outside  of  their  own  blood,  thus  misleading  inexperienced 
breeders,  who,  if  they  practiced  on  his  teaching,  would  adopt  a 
wretched  system  of  bastardy  to  stain  the  finest  breed  of  cattle  which 
the  world  has  produced. 

CHARLES  COLLING'S  FINAL  SALE  OF  His  HERD. 

Tracing  the  brothers  Colling  through  their  breeding  career  from 
the  year  1780  to  1810  with  Charles,  and  to  1818  and  1820  with 
Robert,  a  period  of  thirty  years  with  one,  and  forty  years  with  the 
other,  we  have  witnessed  their  sagacity  in  selecting  the  best  stock 
obtainable  from  the  herds  of  the  earlier  breeders  in  their  vicinity,  as 
the  foundation  of  their  own.  They  bred  and  reared  them  in  the  best 
manner,  adopting  a  system  begun  by  Bakewell,  whom  they  appear  to 
have  taken  as  a  model  for  their  own  future  practice.  Finding  it  suc- 
cessful they  then  had  the  enterprise  to  make  the  Short-horn  race, 
previously  confined  to  their  own  secluded  locality,  known  throughout 
the  richest  agricultural  portions  of  the  kingdom ;  and  through  ani- 
mals of  their  own  breeding,  made  themselves  supposed  the  leading 
or  master-spirits  in  their  production.  ]&ich  had  been  successful  in 
his  vocation,  working  in  concert,  and  interchanging,  to  more  or  less 
extent,  their  bulls  in  the  service  of  each  other's  herds.  They  orig- 
inated the  system  of  letting  bulls  for  the  season  to  other  breeders  at 
roundly  paying  prices,  and  as  a  consequence  sold  many  of  them,  as 
well  as  females,  at  values  hitherto  unparalleled  in  amount. 

Enjoying  the  prestige  of  success  and  reputation,  in  the  month  of 
October,  1810,  Charles  Colling  made  a  public  sale  of  his  herd  at 
Ketton,  and  retired  from  breeding.  It  was  then  the  heyday  of 
agricultural  prosperity  in  the  British  Islands.  England  had  engaged 
in  the  continental  wars  of  Europe  against  the  first  Napoleon ;  specie 
payments  had  been  many  years  suspended  by  her  banks,  and  at 
the  national  treasury;  prices  of  agricultural  produce  were  highly 


70  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

inflated,  and  so  far  as  pounds,  shillings  and  pence  then  rated — 
probably  quite  double  to  what  they  were  ten  years  afterwards — the 
sums  which  were  bid  for  his  cattle  were  both  unprecedented  and 
enormous. 

The  approaching  sale  was  well  advertised,  and  its  results  marked 
an  era  in  Short-horn  history.  An  account  of  it  was  given  in  "  The 
Times"  of  Friday,  October  19,  1810,  as  previously  stated.  It  is  of 
such  historical  interest,  and  so  many  of  our  modern  Short-horns  run 
their  genealogies  back  into  some  of  the  cattle  of  that  sale  that  the 
entire  list  is  quoted.  The  numbers  to  the  bulls,  subsequently  inserted 
in  Vol.  i,  E.  H.  B.,  are  here  added.  The  Alloys  are  repeated  in  the 
list,  and  marked  thus  * : 

COWS. 

Lot.  Guineas. 

1.  CHERRY,  out  of  Old  Cherry,  by  Favorite  (252),  n  years  old,  dam  of  Peer- 

ess (Lot  3),  Mayduke  (22),  and  Ketton  (30).     Bought  by  J.  D.  Nesham, 
Haughton-le-Spring,  Durham.     Bulled  by  Comet 83 

2.  KATE,  4  years  old,  by  Comet.     J.  Hunt,  Morton,  Durham.     Bulled  by 

Mayduke 35 

3.  PEERESS,  5  years  old,   out  of  Cherry,  by  Favorite ;  dam  of  Cecil  (36). 

Major  B.  Rudd,  Marton  Lodge,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Comet 170 

4.  COUNTESS,*  9  years  old,  out  of  Lady,  by  Cupid  ;  dam  of  Selina  (5),  Cora 

(12),  Young  Favorite  (31),  Young  Countess  (40).     Major  B.   Rudd. 
Bulled  by  Comet 400 

5.  SELINA,*  out  of  Countess,  by  Favorite,  5  years  old.     Sir  H.  C.  Ibbotson, 

Bart.,  Denton  Park,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Petrarch 200 

6.  JOHANNA,  out  of  Johanna,  by  Favorite,  4  years  old.     H.  Witham,  Cliff 

Hall,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Petrarch 130 

7.  LADY,*  out  of  Old  Phcenix,  by  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke  (280),  14  years 

old  ;  dam  of  Countess  (4),  Laura  (8),  Major  (21),  and  George  (32).     C. 
Wright,  Cleasby,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Comet. 206 

8.  LAURA,*  out  of  Lady,  by  Favorite,  4  years  old  ;  dam  of  Young  Laura  (39), 

and  Lucilla  (44).     Grant,  Wyham,  Lincolnshire.     Bulled  by  Comet.  . .       210 

9.  CATHALENE,  out  of  a  daughter  of  the  dam  of  Phcenix,  by  Washington 

(674),  8  years  old  ;  dam  of  Charlotte  (42).     G.  Coates  for  G.  Parker, 
Sutton  House,  Malton,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Comet 150 

10.  LILY,  out  of  Daisy,  by  Comet,  3  years  old ;  dam  of  White  Rose  (46). 

Major  B.  Rudd.     Bulled  by  Mayduke 410 

11.  DAISY,  out  of  Old  Daiey,  by  a  grandson  of  Favorite,  out  of  Venus'  6 

years  old  ;  dam  of  Lily  (10),  and  Sir  Dimple  (33).     Major  R.  Bower, 
Welham,  Malton,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Comet 140 

12.  CORA,*  out  of  Countess,  by  Favorite,  4  years  old  ;  dam  of  Alexander  (27), 

and  Calista  (45).     G.  Johnston,  Hackness,  near  Scarborough,  York- 
shire.    Bulled  by  Petrarch 70 

13.  BEAUTY,  out  of  Miss  Washington,  by  Marske  (417),  (a  son  of  Favorite) 

4  years  old  ;  dam  of  Albion  (35).     C.  Wright.     Bulled  by  Comet 120 


CHARLES    COLLING'S    FINAL    SALE.  /I 

Lot.  Guineas. 

14.  RED  ROSE,  out  of  Eliza,  by  Comet,  4  years  old  ;  dam  of  Harold  (29). 

W.  C.  Fenton,  Lovison,  near  Doncaster.     Bulled  by  Mayduke 45 

15.  FLORA,  3  years  old,  by  Comet ;  dam  of  Narcissus  (34).     R.  Mowbray  for 

the  Earl  of  Lonsdale.     Bulled  by  Mayduke 70 

16.  Miss  PEGGY,  3  years  old,  by  a  son  of  Favorite  (253).     Hill  for  Oliver 

Gascoigne,  Parlington,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Comet 60 

17.  MAGDALENE,  3  years  old,  by  Comet,  out  of  a  heifer,  by  Washington  ; 

dam  of  Ossian  (28).     C.  Champion,  Blyth,  near  Doncaster.     Bulled 

by  Comet 170 

BULLS. 

1 8.  COMET  (155),  6  years  old,  out  of  Phoenix.     Wetherell,  Trotter,  Wright, 

and^Charge,  near  Darlington.     Got  by  Favorite 1000 

19.  YARBOROUGH  (705),  9  years  old,  out  of  a  daughter  of  Favorite.     Greg- 

son,  Low  Linn,  Northumberland.     Got  by  Cupid 55 

20.  CUPID  (177),  II  years  old,  out  of  Venus,  by  a  son  of  Favorite.     Being 

rather  lame  was  not  offered  for  sale. 

21.  MAJOR*  (397),  3  years  old,  out  of  Lady.     Grant.     Got  by  Comet 200 

22.  MAYDUKE  (424),  3  years  old,  out  of  Cherry.     Smithson.     Got  by  Comet.       145 

23.  PETRARCH  (488),  2  years  old,  out  of  Venus,     Major  B.  Rudd.     Got  by 

Comet 365 

24.  NORTHUMBERLAND  (464),  2  years  old,  out  of  a  daughter  of  Favorite. 

Buston,  Cotham  Stob,  Durham.     Got  by  Comet 80 

25.  ALFRED  (23),  I  year  old,  out  of  Venus.     Thomas  Robinson,  Acklam, 

Yorkshire.     Got  by  Comet no 

26.  DUKE  (226),  i  year  old,  out  of  Duchess.     Anthony  Compton,  Carham 

Hall,  Northumberland.     Got  by  Comet 105 

27.  ALEXANDER*  (22),  i  year  old,  out  of  Cora.    W.  C.  Fenton.    Got  by  Comet.        63 

28.  OSSIAN  (476),  i  year  old,  out  of  Magdalene.     R.  Mowbray  for  the  Earl 

of  Lonsdale.     Got  by  Windsor  (698) 76 

29.  HAROLD  (290),  I  year  old,  out  of  Red  Rose.     Sir  Lambton  Loraine, 

Bart.,  Kirk  Harle,  Northumberland.     Got  by  Windsor 50 

BULL  CALVES,  .NOT  O^YEAR  OLD. 

30.  KETTON  (346),  out  of  Cherry.     Major  R.  Bower.     Got  by  Comet 50 

31.  YOUNG  FAVORITE*  (254),  out  of  Countess.     P.  Skipworth,  Aylesby,  Lin- 

colnshire.    Got  by  Comet 40 

32.  GEORGE  (276),*  out  of  Lady.     Walker,   Rotherham,  Yorkshire.     Got  by 

Comet 130 

33.  SIR  DIMPLE  (594),  out  of  Daisy.     T.  Lax,  Ravensworth,  Yorkshire.     Got 

by  Comet 90 

34.  NARCISSUS  (447),  out  of  Flora.     C.  Wright,  Cleasby.     Got  by  Comet.  . .         15 

35.  ALBION   (14),    out   of  Beauty.     T.   Booth,   Killerby,  Durham.     Got  by 

Comet 60 

36.  CECIL  (120),  out  of  Peeress.     H.  Strickland,  Boynton,  Yorkshire.     Got 

by  Comet 1 70 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


HEIFERS. 

Lot.  Guineas. 

37.  PHCEBE,  3  years  old,  by  Comet,  dam  by  Favorite.     Sir  H.  C.  Ibbotson, 

Bart.     Bulled  by  a  son  of  Comet 105 

38.  YOUNG  DUCHESS,  2  years  old,  by  Comet,  dam  by  Favorite.     T.  Bates, 

Halton  Castle,  Northumberland.     Bulled  by  a  son  of  Comet 183 

39.  YOUNG  LAURA,*  2  years  old,  by  Comet,  out  of  Laura.     R.  Mowbray  for 

the  Earl  of  Lonsdale.     Bulled  by  Comet 101 

40.  YOUNG  COUNTESS,*  2  years  old,  by  Comet,  out  of  Countess.     Sir  H.  C. 

Ibbotson,  Bart.     Bulled  by  Comet 206 

41.  LUCY,  2  years  old,  by  Comet,  dam  by  Washington.     C.  Wright.     Bulled 

by  Comet 132 

42.  CHARLOTTE,  i  year  old,  by  Comet,  out  of  Cathalene.     T.  Sale  for  R. 

Colling,  Barmpton,  Durham.     Bulled  by  Petrarch 136 

43.  JOHANNA,   I  year   old,  by  Comet,  out  of  Johanna.     George   Johnston. 

Bulled  by  Petrarch • 35 

HEIFER  CALVES. 

44.  LUCILLA,*  out  of  Laura.     Grant.     Got  by  Comet 106 

45.  CALISTA,*  out  of  Cora.     Sir  H.  V.  Tempest,  Wynyard,  Durham.     Got  by 

Comet ' 50 

46.  WHITE  ROSE,  out  of  Lily.     H.  Strickland,  Boynton.     Got  by  Yarbro1.  75 

47.  RUBY,  out  of  Red  Rose.     Major  R.  Bower.     Got  by  Yarbro' 50 

48.  COWSLIP.     R.  Mowbray  for  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale.     Got  by  Comet 25 

SUMMARY. 

29  Cows  and  Heifers,  average, £>I4°  4s-  ?d ;£4OO°  135. 

18  Bulls  and  Calves,         "         169  8     o 3049     4 

47  averaged  ^151  8s.  Kd.  Total,        £711$  17 

The  guinea  is  2 1  shillings  sterling ;  and  by  calculating  the  pound 
sterling  (205.)  at  $5,  the  sum  in  dollars  which  each  animal  sold  for 
can  be  easily  ascertained. 

It  will  here  be  seen  that  three-fourths  of  the  48  cattle  enumerated 
were  got  by  the  bulls  Favorite  (252),  and  Comet  (155)  his  son;  and 
the  other  fourth  by  bulls  of  their  get,  and  a  large  majority  of  the  cows 
were  in  calf  to  Comet,  which  fact,  undoubtedly — so  high  was  the  rep- 
utation of  the  bull — added  much  to  their  prices,  notwithstanding 
any  prejudices  existing  against  their  intense  in-and-in  breeding. 

We  quote  still  further  remarks  relative  to  the  sale  from  Thornton's 
Circular,  of  April,  1869  : 

"  The  sale  was  on  a  fine  October  day,  and  early  in  the  morning 
people  rode  and  drove  to  Ketton,  leaving  their  horses  and  gigs  at  the 
adjoining  farms ;  all  the  strawy ards  were  full,  and  the  throng  at  the 


CHARLES  COLLING'S  FINAL  SALE.  73 

sale  immense ;  everything  was  eaten  up,  so  that  bread  had  to  be  sent 
for  into  Darlington.  Mr.  Kingston,  the  auctioneer,  sold  the  cattle  by 
the  sand-glass,  and  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the  time  received 
about  five  guineas  for  the  business,  the  work  of  the  sale  falling  more 
on  the  owner  than  the  auctioneer.  The  cattle  were  not  fed  up  for 
the  sale,  but  kept  naturally,  and  sold  when  they  were  in  great  condi- 
tion from  natural  keep. 

"  The  Ketton  stock  at  this  time  is  described  by  Mr.  Wright  as  of 
great  size  and  substance,  with  fine,  long  hind  quarters ;  the  space  from 
the  hip  to  the  rib  was  long  and  counteracted  by  a  broad  back  and  high, 
round  ribs.  The  shoulders  of  the  males  were  upright,  and  the 
knuckles,  or  shoulder  points,  large  and  coarse — a  defect  not  so  appa- 
rent in  the  females.  The  general  contour,  or  side  view,  was  stately 
and  imposing,  but  their  great  superiority  consisted  in  their  extraor- 
dinary inclination  to  fatten.  -  On  handling,  the  skin  was  loose  and 
pliant,  and  the  feel  under  it  remarkably  mellow  and  kind.  The  color 
was  greatly  varied ;  red,  red  and  white,  roan,  and  also  white  being 
found  in  the  same  kindred ;  while  in  all  cases  of  close  affinity  there 
was  a  tendency  to  white,  with  red  ears  and  spots. 

"  Many  of  the  cows  were  excellent  milkers,  giving  twelve  full  quarts 
at  a  meal.  Cherry,  the  first  lot,  was  one  of  them,  a  plain  cow  in 
color,  red  and  a  little  white,  whose  descendants  are  now  in  exist- 
ence in  the  neighborhood  of  Stockton-on-Tees  and  Malton,  Yorks. 
Countess  [Alloy]  was  undoubtedly  the  finest  cow  in  the  sale,  but  she 
wanted  hair  and  milk;  in  character  she  came  nearest  to  Mason's 
style,  and  her  back  and  belly  formed  parallel  lines.  She  produced 
three  heifers  and  the  bull  Constellation  (163),  in  Major  Rudd's  pos- 
session, and  died  in  1816.  Selina  [Alloy]  had  the  style  of  her  dam 
Countess,  but  not  her  magnificent  appearance ;  she  bred  ten  calves 
at  Denton  Park,  and  her  descendants  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  genera- 
tions are  still  in  existence  at  Siddington,  Gloucestershire.  Lady 
lacked  elegance,  but  had  great  substance  and  good  hair ;  in  color  she 
was  red  and' white. 

"Lily,  pure  bred,  sold  to  Major  Rudd  for  400  guineas  ($2,152),  a 
splendid  white  cow,  was  the  highest  priced  female,  but  did  nothing  in 
Major  Rudd's  possession.  Daisy,  a  small  roan  cow,  but  a  grand 
milker,  was  most  fruitful  with  Major  Bower;  her  dam,  Old  Daisy,  who 
gave  thirty-two  quarts  of  milk  a  day,  had  been  sold  to  Mr.  Hustler, 
who  bred  Fairy  from  her,  the  ancestress  of  Rev.  J.  D.  Jefferson's 
Lady  Abbesses.  This  Fairy  was  afterwards  bought  by  Mr.  Bates, 
who  reckoned  her  to  be  the  finest  specimen  of  quality  imaginable ; 


74  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

she  had  a  long,  thick,  downy  coat,  with  a  superb  flesh  underneath, 
which,  to  a  superficial  observer,  appeared  hard,  the  cow  being  in 
a  rapidly  advancing  condition.  Cora  [Alloy],  out  of  the  400  gs. 
($2,000)  Countess,  had  a  pretty  red  frame,  but  ugly  cock  horns,  and 
was  re-sold  to  Major  Bower,  who  bred  ten  calves  from  her.  Magda- 
lene was  a  little  red  cow,  with  a  large  bag  and  belly  and  short 
quarters ;  although  the  dam  of  the  celebrated  red  and  white  bull, 
Blyth  Comet  (85),  her  only  produce  besides  Ossian  (476);  she  was 
not  first  rate  and  wanted  hair,  yet  when  dry  had  a  great  propensity 
to  feed. 

"  The  only  cow  that  Charles  Colling  reserved  was  Magdalena  [by 
Comet,  dam  by  Cupid],  a  great  favorite  and  an  extraordinary  milker, 
giving  sixteen  quarts  twice  a  day.  Mr.  Whitaker  prevailed  upon 
Charles  Colling  to  let  him  have  her ;  the  numerous  and  well  known 
'  Chaff'  tribe  is  descended  from  this  cow. 

"Comet  (155)  was  the  great  attraction  of  the  sale,  and  his  close 
breeding  [by  Favorite  (252),  dam  by  Favorite  (252),  out  of  Favorite's 
(252)  dam],  did  not  detract  from  his  value  or  appearance.  Charles 
Colling  declared  him  to  be  the  best  bull  he  ever  bred  or  saw.  He 
was  a  beautiful  light  roan,  dark  [red]  neck,  with  a  fine  masculine 
head,  broad  and  deep  breast,  shoulders  well  laid  back,  crops  and 
loins  good,  hind  quarters  long,  straight,  and  well  packed,  thighs  thick, 
twist  full  and  well  let  down,  with  nice  straight  hocks  and  hind  legs. 
He  had  fair  sized  horns,  ears  large  and  hairy,  and  a  grandeur  of  style 
and  carriage  that  was  indescribable.*  It  was  admitted  that  no  bull 
so  good  had  ever  before  been  seen,  and  eminent  breeders  have  since  said 
that  they  never  again  saw  his  equal.  In  one  point,  however,  opinions 
differed.  Some  few  objected  to  his  shoulders  as  not  being  good,  or  a 
little  too  strong  in  the  knuckles ;  others  asserted  that  he  was  there,  as 
in  every  other  point,  faultless.  The  near  shoulder  was  slightly  shrunk 
in,  apparently  diseased,  which  may  have  arisen  from  a  violent  sprain 
that  he  received  when  a  calf.  When  brought  into  the  ring,  he  was 
put  up  at  600  guineas.  Thomas  Newton,  a  small  dairyman  at  Bishop 
Auckland,  bid  850  guineas,  and  Mr.  John  Wright,  standing  beside 
him,  asked  why  he  bid?  'To  take  in  cows  at  a  good  profit,'  said  he, 
and  whilst  talking  the  glass  f  run  out  at  1000  guineas  ($5,000).  Mr. 
John  Hutton,  of  Marske,  who  was  unable  to  get  to  the  sale,  bid  1600 


*  Comet's  portrait  is  represented  in  frontispiece  of  3d  volume  American  Herd  Book. — L.  F.  A. 

t  In  those  days  it  was  a  rule  with  the  English  stock  auctioneers  to  sell  by  the  hour  or  minute 
glass — an  article  now  little  known.  A  given  number  of  minutes  was  allowed  for  the  bidding,  and 
when  the  sand  run  out  the  article  on  sale  was  struck  off. — L.  F.  A. 


'WM 


CHARLES  COLLING'S  FINAL  SALE.  75 

guineas  for  him,  as  well  as  Sir  H.  Vane  Tempest,  who  was  delayed, 
and  drove  up  just  as  the  sale  was  finishing.  Comet  was  located  at 
Cleasby,  three  miles  from  Darlington,  and  was  kept  in  a  small  pad- 
dock, with  a  loose  box  in  the  corner.  The  condition  of  purchase 
was  that  the  four  buyers  should  send  twelve  cows  each  annually  to 
him,  and  Mr.  Wright  was  to  have  one  extra  for  his  keep.  Mr.  Wright 
died  in  the  meantime,  and  Comet  gradually  sank,  his  body  breaking 
out  into  sores.  Remus  (550)  is  supposed  to  have  been  his  last  calf. 
Miss  Wright  kept  a  man  expressly  to  attend  to  Comet,  and  when  the 
bull  died  he  was  buried  in  the  center  of  the  paddock,  and  a  chestnut 
tree  planted  on  his  grave.  The  paddock  is  known  as  'Comet's  garth ' 
[enclosure]  to  this  day.  Mr.  Thornton,  of  Stapleton,  purchased  this 
field,  and  the  tree  having  grown  to  an  enormous  size,  was  grubbed  up 
on  the  3d  of  February,  1865,  and  Comet's  skeleton  laid  bare;  his  rib 
bone  measured  2  feet  i  inch^and  the  leg  bone,  knee  to  ankle  joint,  9 
inches  to  5  inches  circumference.  Many  of  the  other  bones  were 
quite  perfect,  and  the  whole  are  preserved  in  a  glass  case  as  a  curi- 
osity at  Stapleton,  near  Darlington. 

"  North  Star  (458),  own  brother  to  Comet,  and  a  year  younger,  was 
used  and  died  at  General  Simpson's  in  Fifeshire ;  he  was  a  little  lighter 
.in  color,  but  'fully  as  fine  in  quality,  or  perhaps  rather  thicker,  though 
not  such  a  perfectly  elegant  animal  as  Comet.  Young  Phcenix,  their 
dam,  only  produced  one  other  calf,  a  heifer,  that  died  young. 

"  Major  (397),  a  nice  bull,  but  not  particularly  handsome,  and  of  a 
red  and  white  color,  begot  much  good  stock  in  Lincolnshire  for  many 
years.  He  was  hired  by  Mr.  John  Charge,  who  bred  Western  Comet 
(689)  by  him,  out  of  Gentle  Kitty.  Western  Comet  was  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  best  bull  and  finest  stock  getter  ever  brought  into 
Cumberland.  He  was  used  to  his  daughters  and  granddaughters, 
and  from  this  close  alliance  came  the  Wharfdale  tribe,  recently  so 
successful  in  Ireland.  Petrarch  (488)  was  a  splendid  looking  bull, 
but  wanted  hair,  whilst  Northumberland  (464),  who  had  big  knuckles, 
was  used,  like  Ossian.(476)  in  Westmoreland,  for  several  seasons, 
both  becoming  celebrated  sires.  Ketton  (346)  also  showed  strong 
knuckles,  and  eventually  went  into  Nottinghamshire.  Albion  (14)  is 
said  to  have  done  more  good  than  any  other  bull  used  at  Killerby 
[Thomas  Booth's],  Young  Duchess,  known  afterwards  as  Duchess 
ist  [bought  by  Thomas  Bates],  was  a  fine  red  heifer,  and  developed 
into  a  large,  handsome  cow,  with  a  good  deal  of  the  elegance  and 
style  of  her  sire  Comet.  She  was  never  quite  so  splendid  an  animal 


76  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

as  her  granddam  the  Duchess,*  by  the  Daisy  Bull  (186).  Young 
Countess,  a  thick,  stylish,  red  heifer,  was  re-sold  to  Mr.  Earnshaw, 
and  produced  three  calves,  twin  bulls,  one  of  which  was  the  cele- 
brated bull  Count  (170),  and  a  red  and  white  heifer.  She  died  from 
a  broken  blood  vessel  in  1814." 

In  regard  to  floating  rumors  that  Charles  Colling  had  made  use  of 
Kyloe  blood  in  his  herd,  Colling  himself,  in  a  private  letter  to  the 
Rev.  Henry  Berry  stated,  " '  that  Hutchinson  was  egregiously  wrong  in 
charging  the  Collings  with  an  indiscriminate  use  of  Kyloe  blood.' 
George  Coates  declared  unequivocally  that  he  never  observed  any- 
thing in  that  stock  designated  pure  Short-horns,  that  could  induce 
him  for  a  moment  to  entertain  a  suspicion  that  the  animals  were 
nearly  or  remotely  allied  to  the  Kyloe.  Mr.  Charge,  as  well  as  Mr. 
Coates  and  C.  Colling,  always  deemed  Hubback  (319)  a  pure  Short- 
horn ;  and  neither  he  nor  his  descendants,  when  put  on  cows  of  the 
pure  blood,  begot  any  calves  which  denoted,  in  their  features  or 
color,  any  other  breed  than  the  pure  Short-horn.  His  stock  had 
capacious  chests,  prominent  bosoms,  thick  mossy  coats,  mellow  skins, 
with  a  great  deal  of  fine  flesh  spread  equally  over  the  whole  carcass, 
and  were  either  red  and  white,  yellow  roans,  or  white.  The  produce 
of  the  Alloy  blood  f  increased  in  size,  rotundity,  and  heavy  flesh,  but 
afterwards  seemed  to  lose  their  fine  hair  and  milking  properties.  The 
highest  priced  cows  at  the  sale  were  those  in  the  highest  condition, 
and  they  were  mostly  of  the  Alloy  blood." 

That  sale  finished  the  vocation  of  Charles  Colling  as  a  Short-horn 
breeder.  He  lived  in  retirement  twenty-six  years  afterwards,  and 
died  in  the  year  1836,  at  the  patriarchal  age  of  85  years,  leaving 
no  children. 

ROBERT  COLLING'S  SALE  OF  1818. 

Eight  years  after  the  sale  of  Charles'  herd,  Robert  Colling,  in  the 
year  1818,  made  a  partial  sale  of  his  herd,  and  in  1820  the  closing 
sale,  which  finished  his  career  as  a  breeder.  At  the  time  of  his  first 
sale  in  1818,  he  had  been  before  the  public  as  a  leading  and  prom- 
inent breeder  thirty-eight  years,  and  at  his  final  sale  in  1820,  forty 
years.  During  all  that  time,  like  his  brother  Charles,  he  had  been  a 
large  seller  of  stock  as  well  as  considerable  purchaser.  He  sold  his 
surplus  animals  to  other  breeders,  through  which  the  blood  of  many 

*  Frontispiece  to  Cows,  Vol.  3,  American  Herd  Book. — L.  F.  A. 
t  These  were  all  by  thorough-bred  bulls.— L.  F.  A. 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  SALE.  77 

of  his  best  animals  were  imparted  to  their  herds,  since  become 
famous.  Like  his  brother  Charles,  wherever  he  had  found  a  well- 
bred  female  whose  superior  good  qualities  pleased  him,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible, he  also  availed  himself,  by  purchase,  of  her  merits. 

As  with  the  sale  of  Charles  in  1810,  the  widely  advertised  first  sale 
of  Robert  in  1818,  with  a  greater  number  of  animals,  brought  a  large 
attendance  of  the  most  spirited  breeders  of  England.  It  took  place 
on  the  2 pth  and  3oth  days  of  September.  The  following  account  of 
the  sale  is  given : 

COWS. 

Lot.  Guineas. 

1.  RED  ROSE,  17  years  old,  by  Favorite  (252),  dam  by  Ben  (70),  gr.  d.  by 

Foljambe,  g.  gr.  d.  by  Hubback.  Having  a  complaint  upon  her,  was 
not  offered  for  sale. 

2.  Moss  ROSE,  II  years  old,  by  Favorite,  dam  lot  I.     Being  not  likely  to 

breed  again,  was  not  offered  for  sale. 

3.  JUNO,  ii  years  old,  by  Favorite,  dam  Wildair  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Ben, 

g.  gr.  d.  by  Hubback,  g.  g.  gr.  d.  by  sire  of  Hubback,  g.  g.  g.  gr.  d. 
by  Sir  James  Pennyman's  bull,  descended  from  the  stock  of  the  late 
Sir  W.  St.  Quintin,  of  Scampston.  Bought  by  the  Hon.  J.  B.  Simpson, 
Babworth,  Nottinghamshire.  Bulled  by  Lancaster  (360) 78 

4.  DIANA,  own  sister  to  lot  3.     Lord  Althorp,  Wiseton,  Nottinghamshire, 

afterwards  Earl  Spencer.     Bulled  by  Lancaster 73 

5.  SALLY,  11  years  old,  by  Favorite,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Favorite. 

W.  Smith,  Dishley,  Leicestershire 34 

6.  CHARLOTTE,  9  years  old,  by  Comet  (155),  dam  (Cathalene).     Bought  at 

the  Ketton  sale.  F.  Brown,  Welbourn,  Grantham,  Lincolnshire. 
Bulled  by  Midas  (435) 50 

7.  WILDAIR,  6  years  old,  by  George  (275),  dam  Wildair  by  Favorite.     Sister 

to  lot  3.  C.  Duncombe,  Duncombe  Park,  Yorks,  afterwards  Lord 
Feversham.  Bulled  by  Lancaster 176 

8.  LILY,  6  years  old,  by  North  Star  (459),  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Favor- 

ite, g.  gr.  d.  by  Favorite.  P.  Skipworth,  Aylesby,  Lincolnshire. 
Bulled  by  Lancaster. 66 

9.  GOLDEN  PIPPIN,  6  years  old,  by  North  Star,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by 

Favorite,  g.  gr.  d.  by  Favorite,  from  the  cow  that  obtained  the  first 
premium  given  at  Darlington.  W.  Cattle  (re-sold  to  Whitaker, 
Greenholme,  Otley).  Bulled  by  Lancaster 141 

10.  BLACKWELL,  6  years  old,  by  Wellington  (680),  descended  from  the  stock 

of  the  late  Mr.  Hill.  T.  Hopper,  Sherburn,  Durham.  Bulled  by 
Lancaster 31 

11.  TULIP,  6  years  old,  by  George,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Favorite,  g.  gr. 

d.  by  Favorite.  C.  Tibbets.  Barton  Seagrave,  Northamptonshire. 
Bulled  by  Barmpton  (54) 70 


78  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Lot.  Guineas. 

12.  TRINKET,  6  years  old,  by  Barmpton,  dam  by  Favorite,  g.  gr.  d.  by  Favor- 

ite.   W.  Smith.     Bulled  by  Lancaster 143 

13.  MARY  ANNE,  6  years  old,  by  George,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Punch. 

W.  Smith.     Bulled  by  Midas 62 

14.  LOUISA,  5  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Favorite. 

W.  Smith.     Bulled  by  Lancaster 37 

15.  EMPRESS,  5  years  old,  by  Barmpton,  dam  Lady  Grace,  by  Favorite.     C. 

Champion,  Blyth,  Nottinghamshire.     Bulled  by  Lancaster 210 

16.  CAROLINE,  5  years  old,  by  Minor  (441),  dam  (Wildair)  by  Favorite.     H. 

Witham,  Lartington,  Yorks.     Bulled  by  Lancaster 160 

17.  CLARISSA,  4  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Favor- 

ite, g.  gr.  d.  by  Favorite.  T.  Robson,  Holtby  (re-sold  to  Right  Hon. 
C.  Arbuthnot,  Woodford  Lodge,  Northamptonshire).  Bulled  by  Lan- 
caster   151 

1 8.  YOUNG  Moss  ROSE,  5  years  old,  by  Wellington,'  dam  (2).     C.  Buncombe. 

Bulled  by  Lancaster 190 

19.  VENUS,  5  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  George,  gr.  d.  by  Favorite, 

g.  gr.  d.  by  Punch  (531),  from  a  sister  to  the  dam  of  the  White  Heifer 

that  Traveled.     Hon.  J.  B.  Simpson.     Bulled  by  Lancaster 195 

20.  ROSETTE,  4  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (i).     Lord  Althorp.     Bulled 

by  Lancaster 300 

21.  YOUNG  CHARLOTTE,  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (6).     R.  Thomas, 

Eryholme,  Durham.     Bulled  by  Lancaster 72 

22.  VESPER,  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Favorite. 

Dam  sister  to  Trinket's  dam.  J.  White,  Coates,  Leicestershire. 
Bulled  by  Lancaster in 

23.  NONPAREIL,  5  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (3).    Lord  Althorp.    Bulled 

by  Lancaster 370 

24.  DAISY,  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite.     Hon.  J.  B.  Simp- 

son.    Bulled  by  Lancaster 32 

25.  KATE,  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Phenomenon  (491),  gr.  d.  by 

Favorite.     H.  Witham,   Cliff  Hall,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Lancaster.         50 

26.  AMELIA,  2  years  old,  by  Lancaster,  dam  by  North  Star,  gr.  d.  by  Favor- 

ite, g.  gr.  d.  by  Punch.  J.  C.  Maynard,  Harsley  Hall,  Yorkshire. 
Bulled  by  Barmpton 76 

27.  AURORA,  twin  sister  to  26.     W.  Smith.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 78 

28.  PRINCESS,  2  years  old,  by  Lancaster,  dam  (9).     P.  Skipworth.     Bulled  by 

Barmpton 156 

29.  CLARA,  2  years  old,  by  Lancaster,  dam  (19).     R.  Thomas.     Bulled  by 

Barmpton 190 

30.  FANNY,  2  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (5).     C.  Tibbets.     Bulled  by 

Barmpton 160 

31.  WHITE  ROSE,  2  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Wellington,  gr.  d.  by 

Favorite.     W.  Smith.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 51 

32.  RUBY,  2  years   old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (i).     T.   Robson.     Bulled  by 

Lancaster , 331 


ROBERT    COLLING   S    SALE.  79 

Lot.  Guineas. 

33.  LAVINIA,    2   years,   by  Lancaster,    dam   (18).     T.    Robson.     Bulled  by 

Barmpton 105 

34.  HEBE,  2  years  old,  by  Jupiter  (345),  dam  (8).     J.  Thompson,  Scremers- 

ton,  Berwick-on-Tweed.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 90 

35.  JESSY,  2  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  from  the  stock  of  the  late  Mr. 

Hill.     J.  Hutchinson,  Stockton-on-Tees.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 43 

36.  JEWEL,  2  years  old,  twin  sister  to  35.     F.  Brown.     Bulled  by  Lancaster.         50 

HEIFERS  AND  HEIFER  CALVES. 

37.  VIOLET,  by  North  Star,  dam  by  Midas,  gr.  d.  by  Punch.     P.  Skipworth.  48 

38.  SWEETBRIER,  by  North  Star,  dam  (23).     J.  C.  Maynard 145 

39.  SNOWDROP,  by  Wellington,  dam  (n).     Thompson,  Stockton,  Durham.. .  71 

40.  COWSLIP,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by  Punch.     Leighton, 

North  Willingham,  Lincolnshire 54 

41.  LADY  ANN,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  George,  gr.  d.  (3).     W.  Wetherell, 

Holme  House,  Darlington 100 

42.  FLORA,  by  Lancaster,  dam  (5):     J.  Thompson 47 

43.  CLEOPATRA,  by  Lancaster,  dam  by  George,  gr.  d.  by  Favorite,  g.  gr.  d. 

by  Punch.     W.  Wetherell 133 

44.  RESTLESS,  by  Lancaster,  dam  (17) ;  calved  Sept.  26,  1817.     T.  Robson.         52 

45.  A  HEIFER,  by  Lancaster,   dam  (12) ;  calved  28th  October.     S.  Wiley, 

Brandsby,  Yorkshire 56 

46.  Miss  COLLING,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Wellington  ;  calved  October  20. 

W.  Smith 28 

47.  A  ROAN  HEIFER,  by  Lancaster,  dam  (13) ;  calved  November  16.     W. 

Cattle  (G.  Alderson,  Ferrybridge) : 42 

48.  LOUISA,  by  Lancaster,  dam  (14) ;  calved  November  2Oth.     Hon.  J.  B. 

Simpson 38 

49.  A  RED  AND  WHITE  HEIFER,  by  Barmpton,  dam  (15).     C.  Champion.  . .  100 

50.  RosiNA,  by  Barmpton,  dam  (20).     T.  Robson  for  C.  Arbuthnot 123 

51.  LAURA,  by  Barmpton,  dam  (6).     Major  B.  Rudd,  Marton  Lodge,  York- 

shire          55 

52.  BARMPTON  TRINKET,  by  Barmpton,  dam  (12).     Hon.  J.  B.  Simpson.  ...       no 

53.  AMELIA,  by  Barmpton,  dam  by  Cleveland  (144),  gr.  d.  by  Comet,  g.  gr.  d. 

by  Favorite.     J.  White 80 

BULLS. 

54.  MARSKE  (418),  12  years  old,  by  Favorite,  dam  by  Favorite,  gr.  d.  by 

Favorite,  g.  gr.  d.  by  Punch,  g.  g.  gr.  d.  by  Hubback,  g.  g.  g.  gr.  d.  by 
the  sire  of  Hubback,  g.  g.  g.  g.  gr.  d.  by  Sir  James  Pennyman's  bull, 
descended  from  the  stock  of  the  late  Sir  W.  St.  Quintin,  of  Scampston. 
J.  C.  Maynard 50 

55.  NORTH  STAR  (459),  n  years  old,  by  Favorite,  dam  Yellow  Cow,  by  Punch. 

T.  Lax,  Ravensworth,  Yorkshire 72 

56.  MIDAS  (435),  10  years  old,  by  Phenomenon,  dam  (i).     S.  Wiley 270 


80  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Lot.  Guineas. 

57.  BARMPTON  (54),  8  years  old,  by  George,  dam  (2).    Being  lame  was  not  sold. 

58.  MAJOR  (398),  5  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Phenomenon,  gr.  d.  by 

Favorite,  g.  gr.  d.  by  Favorite.     W.  Brooks,  Laceby,  Lincolnshire.  ...       185 

59.  LANCASTER  (360),  4  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (2).     Hon.  J.  B  Simp- 

son and  W.  Smith 621 

60.  BARONET  (62),  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (i).     Being  engaged,  was 

not  put  up. 

61.  REGENT  (544),  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  Rosebud,  by  Windsor, 

gr.  d.  (i).     Lord  Althorp 145 

BULL  CALVES. 

62.  DIAMOND  (206),  i  year  old,  by  Lancaster,  dam  (19).     Donaldson,  Har- 

burn  House,  Durham 102 

63.  ALBION  (17),  rising  i  year  old,  by  Lancaster,  dam  by  Wellington,  gr.  d. 

by  Favorite,  g.  gr.  d.  by  a  son  of  Favorite.     Russell,  Brancepeth  Cas- 
tle, Durham 140 

64.  HAROLD  (291),  rising  i  year  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  (7).    J.  Whitaker, 

Greenholme,  Otley,  Yorks 201 

65.  PILOT  (496),  rising  i  year  old,  by  either  Major  or  Wellington  (being  bulled 

by  both),  dam  (i).     J.  Booth,  Killerby,  Yorkshire 270 

SUMMARY. 

51  Cows  and  Heifers,  average, ;£m  *3s.  od.     ^5694     35. 

10  Bulls  and  Bull  Calves,     "       215  17     7  2158  16 

61  averaged  £128  143.  gd.  Total,         ^7852  19 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  CLOSING  SALE  IN  1820. 

The  final  closing' sale  of  Robert  Colling  was  made  on  October  3d, 
1820,  and  like  that  of  1818,  attracted  wide  attention.  The  account 
of  it  is  thus  given : 

COWS. 

Lot.  Guineas. 

1.  SNOWDROP,  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite.     G.  Alderson, 

Ferrybridge.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 20 

2.  OLD  DINSDALE,  10  years  old,  by  Phenomenon,  dam  by  Favorite.     J. 

Hepworth,  Rogerthorpe,  Pontefract,  Yorks.     Bulled  by  Barmpton.. . .         27 

3.  YOUNG  DINSDALE,  6  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  lot  2.     W.  Asheton, 

Brandon  House,  Coventry,  Warwickshire.     Bulled  by  Adonis  (8) 54 

4.  CRYSTAL,  5  years  old,  by  Cleveland,  dam  by  Comet,  gr.  d.  by  Favorite. 

R.  Dobson,  Bishop  Auckland,  Durham.     Bulled  by  Young  Lancaster 
(361) 42 

5.  LADY,  4  years  old,  by  Wellington.     S.  Wiley,  Brandsby,  York.     Bulled 

by  Barmpton 26 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  CLOSING  SALE.  81 

Lot.  Guineas. 

6.  POMONA,  6  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite.     J.  G.  Dixon, 

Holton-le-Moor,  Lincolnshire.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 27 

7.  CICELY,  12  years  old,  by  Favorite,  dam  by  Punch.     W.  Smith,  Dishley, 

Leicestershire.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 22 

8.  CHERRY,  5  years  old,  bought  of  G.  Coates,  near  Darlington.     R.  Fletcher, 

Burdon,  Yorkshire.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 22 

9.  KATE,  3  years  old,  by  Wellington.     Major  Rudd,  Marton,  Cleveland. 

Bulled  by  Barmpton 28 

10.  WHITE  ROSE,  5  years  old,  by  Wellington.    W.  Jobson,  Newtown,  near 

Chillingham.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 51 

11.  STRAWBERRY,  5  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  by  Favorite.     J.  G.  Dixon, 

Holton-le-Moor,  Lincolnshire.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 30 

Lots  12  to  1 8,  inclusive,  were  Horses. 

TWO-YEAR-OLD  HEIFERS. 

19.  IRIS,  by  Barmpton,  dam  Backwell,  lot  10  in  the  sale  catalogue  for  1818. 

J.  Hepworth.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 19 

20.  WILD  AIR,  by  Barmpton,  dam  Wildair,  lot  7  in  the  sale,  1818.     J.  Graham, 

Netherby,  Cumberland.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 35 

21.  DIANA,  by  Young  Barmpton  (55),  dam  lot  3.     P.  Skipworth,  Aylesby, 

Lincolnshire.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 51 

22.  DAISY,  by  Barmpton,  dam  Daisy,  lot  24  in  the  sale,  1818.     W.  Donkin, 

Sandhoe,  near  Hexham.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 101 

23.  LILY,  by  Barmpton,  dam  Lily,  lot  8  in  the  sale,  1818.     G.  Alderson, 

Ferrybridge.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 102 

24.  CAROLINE,  calved  in  1817,  by  Young  Barmpton,  dam  Wildair,  lot  7  in 

the  sale,  1818.     Dinning,  Newlands,  near  Belford.     Bulled  by  Barmp- 
ton          53 

25.  DAMSEL,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  2.     R.  Jobson,  Turvelaws,  near  Wooler, . 

Northumberland.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 58 

26.  COUNTESS,  by  Barmpton,  dam  Young  Charlotte,  lot  21  in  the  sale,  1818. 

W.  Jobson.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 68 

27.  YOUNG  NONPAREIL,  by  Barmpton,  dam  Nonpareil,  lot  23  in  the  sale, 

1818.     W.  Smith.     Bulled  by  Barmpton 151 

28.  SALLY,  by  Alexander.     W.  Robinson,   St.  Helens  Auckland,  Durham. 

Bulled  by  Barmpton 33 

29.  BELL,   by   Major.      Henderson,    Belford,    Northumberland.     Bulled  by 

Barmpton 16 

30.  ARABELLA,  by  Lancaster.     Henderson.     Bulled  by  Adonis 32 

ONE-YEAR-OLD  HEIFERS. 

31.  FLORA,  a  roan,  by  Lancaster.     R.  Ferguson,  Harker  Lodge,  Carlisle.. . .         15 

32.  LUCY,  a  roan,  by  Lancaster,  dam  by  Favorite.     Hon.  J.  B.  Simpson.  ...         30 

33.  BETSY,  a  mottled,  by  Lancaster.     G.  Alderson 14 

34.  MARY,  a  white,  by  Lancaster.     G.  Alderson loX 

35.  SPRIGHTLY,  a  light  roan,  by  Lancaster.     Dinning; 25 

6 


82  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

HEIFER  CALVES,  IN  1820. 

Lot.  Guineas. 

36.  Miss  COLLING,  a  roan,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  6.     J.  Claridge,  Jerveaux 

Abbey,  Yorkshire 19 

37.  A  LIGHT  ROAN,  by  Barmpton.     Major  Rudd n)£ 

38.  BARMPTON  STRAWBERRY,  a  red  fleck,  calved  April  i,  by  Barmpton,  dam 

lot  II.     Hon.  J.  B.  Simpson 30 

39.  A  ROAN,  by  Barmpton.     W.  Harrison,  Neasham  Lane,  near  Darlington.  6 

40.  A  ROAN,  by  Barmpton.     Major  Rudd 4^ 

41.  A  LIGHT  ROAN,  by  Barmpton.     Major  Rudd 4 

42.  DINSDALE,  fleck  red  and  white,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  2.     W.  Smith, 

Dishley 22 

43.  Miss  COLLING,  a  light  roan,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  5.     S.  Wiley 20 

44.  A  RED  ROAN,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  9.     Major  Rudd 25 

45.  A  FLECK,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  3.     S.  Wiley 17 

BULLS. 

46.  BARMPTON  (54),  10  years  old,  by  George,  dam  Moss  Rose,  lot  2  in  the 

sale,  1818.     R.  Thomas,  Airy  Holme,  near  Darlington 115 

47.  BARONET  (62),  5  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  Red  Rose,  lot  I  in  the 

sale,  1818.     Sir  C.  Loraine,  Bart.,  Kirk  Harle,  Northumberland 350 

48.  YOUNG  BARMPTON  (55),  3  years  old,  by  Wellington,  dam  a  daughter  of 

Juno,  lot  3  in  the  sale,  1818.    J.  Graham 130 

BULLS   ONE  YEAR  OLD. 

49.  YOUNG  LANCASTER  (361),  by  Lancaster,  dam  lot  3.    J.  Pearson,  Acklam, 

Cleveland 73 

50.  ADONIS  (8),  by  Lancaster.     H.  Vansittart,  Kirkleatham,  Yorkshire 50 

BULL  CALVES. 

51.  A  LIGHT  ROAN,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  4.     M.  Culley,  Fowberry,  North- 

umberland   16 

52.  ECLIPSE  (238),  a  light  roan,  calved  in  July,  1820,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot 

27.     T.  Charge,  Newton,  Yorkshire 100 

53.  A  LIGHT  ROAN,  by  Barmpton,  dam  lot  I.     Clayton,  Halnaby,  Yorkshire.  10 

SUMMARY. 

38  Cows  and  Heifers,  average, £  36  los.  4d.     ^1387  us.  6d. 

8  Bulls  and  Calves,         "         no  15     6  886    4     o 


46  averaged  £49  8s.  7d.  Total,         ^"2273  15      6 

Total  of  the  two  sales,  ,£10,126  145.  6d.     Average  of  107  head,  £94  125.  lod. 

Following  this  last  sale  we  find  a  running  summary  of  Robert 
Ceiling's  herd  and  breeding  in  Thornton's  Circular.  Although  in 
some  parts  it  has  been  already  given  in  previous  pages,  it  is  so  full 
of  connected  interest  that  we  insert  it  entire : 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  CATTLE.        83 

"  Robert  Colling,  the  elder  of  the  two  brothers,  was  born  at  Sker- 
ningham,  and  when  a  youth  was  apprenticed  to  a  large  grocer ;  his 
health  being  delicate  he  returned  home  and  joined  his  brother  Charles 
in  partnership,  until  Charles  went  to  Ketton,  and  Robert  took  the 
Barmpton  farm  in  the  spring  of  1783,  having  previously  resided  at 
Hurworth ;  he  often  visited  Mr.  Culley,  and  imitated  many  of  his 
principles  of  farming,  more  especially  turnip  growing,  and  in  later 
years  his  own  farming  at  Barmpton  became  high  and  excellent  in 
every  degree.  For  many  years  his  Leicester  sheep,  which  were 
obained  from  Bakewell,  were  more  successful  than  his  Short-horns, 
and  his  Ram  shows  or  lettings  were  continued  for  many  years.  Mr. 
Wiley,  of  Brandsby,  took  sheep  of  him  for  fourteen  years  in  succes- 
sion, and  upon  one  particular  occasion  asked  him  what  a  good 
Short-horn  should  be  like.  Pointing  to  one  of  his  finest  tups,  called 
Shoulders  (from  the  excellence  of  that  point),  Mr.  Colling  advised 
him  to  breed  his  cattle  like  that.  A  favorite  expression  of  his  was  to 
liken  his  cattle  to  a  barrel ;  he  did  not  approve  of  the  breast  being 
very  prominent,  preferring  it  rather  short  but  very  thick  and  wide, 
especially  between  the  fore  legs,  as  he  generally  considered  beasts 
with  very  prominent  breasts  had  thin  shoulders  and  chine,  and  lacked 
width  and  substance  in  their  fore  quarters. 

"  Improved  Short-horns,  however,  did  not  at  first  attract  his  atten- 
tion. Sheep  were  the  profit  of  the  farm,  and  no  doubt  in  later  days 
the  ram  lettings  led  to  bull  hirings,  as  they  do  at  Aylesby,  at  Given- 
dale,  at  Brandsby,  and  elsewhere,  even  to  this  day.  Bailey  wrote  in 
1 8 10,  after  an  experience  of  Durham  county  for  forty  years,  that 
'  Robert  Colling  has  frequently  crossed  with  the  improved  Short- 
horned  bulls  and  the  best  Kyloe  cows  he  could  procure ;  the  produce 
made  very  fat  and  much  earlier  than  the  pure  Kyloe ;  but  he  has  now 
given  it  up,  finding  that  the  pure  improved  Short-horns  are  more 
profitable.' 

"Although  Mr.  Robert  Colling  had  several  tribes,  and  went  to 
different  breeders  for  his  original  cattle,  yet  the  majority  of  those 
animals  which  were  sold  in  the  1818  sale,  were  descended  from  four 
families,  of  which  some  account  will  now  be  given. 

"  It  appears  that  some  of  his  earliest  stock  came  from  Mr.  Milbank 
of  Barningham,  about  1780.  These  were  supposed  to  be  the  best 
Teeswater  cattle,  and  noted  for  their  excellent  grazing  properties. 
The  original  of  the  Yellow  Cow,  by  Punch  (531),  came  from  this 
stock;  and  her  descendants  were  Venus,  lot  19;  Clara,  lot  29;  and 
Diamond  (206),  lot  62,  got  by  Lancaster  (360),  out  of  Venus,  all  sold 


84  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

for  high  prices  in  the  1818  sale.  Of  Diamond,  Mr.  Dickson  in  an 
essay  on  judging,  said  that  he  was  small,  of  beautiful  symmetry,  and 
a  perfect  model,  with  a  thick,  fine  coat.  The  Yellow  Cow,  by  Punch, 
bred  a  heifer,*  by  Favorite  (252),  which  heifer  was  the  dam  of  the 
'White  Heifer  that  Traveled.'  No  record  gives  the  date  of  this 
white  heifer's  birth  (supposed  1806),  but  the  fashion  at  that  time  of 
feeding  to  an  enormous  weight,  and  the  success  of  John  Day  in  his 
wanderings  with  the  Durham  Ox,  induced  two  butchers  to  purchase 
her  for  exhibition.  Unlike  John  Day,  they  left  no  pamphlet  of  the 
'pure  genuine  breed,'  nor  of  their  travels  throughout  the  country. 
A  small  handbill  alone  tells  of  the  merits  of  the  White  Heifer;  it 
runs  as  follows : 

"  *  To  be  seen  at  the  stables  of  the  Three  Kings,  Piccadilly,  near 
the  Glo'ster  Coffee  House,  the  greatest  wonder  in  the  world  of  the 
kind,  the  wonderful  Durham  fat  heifer,  of  the  improved  Short- 
horned  breed,  which  weighs  306  stone  (8  Ibs.)  [2,448  Ibs.],  bred 
and  fed  by  Robert  Colling,  of  Barmpton,  near  Darlington,  in  the 
county  of  Durham.  She  is  sister  (half  sister  by  the  sire)  to  the 
Durham  Ox  and  bull  Comet  (155),  which  was  sold  for  1000  guineas 
at  the  sale  of  Charles  Colling,  Esq.,  at  Ketton,  for  which  1500  guineas 
has  since  been  offered.  This  heifer  is  now  the  property  of  Messrs. 
Robinson  and  Spark.  It  is  particularly  worthy  of  notice  that  this 
justly-celebrated  heifer  was  a  twin.f  A  correct  portrait  of  this  beau- 
tiful heifer  has  been  taken  by  Mr.  Weaver,  of  Shrewsbury,  from  which 
an  engraving  (by  Mr.  Ward,  an  eminent  artist  in  London)  and  prints 
taken  from  it  are  published  at  one  guinea  each.  J  Printed  by  Mr. 
Glendon,  Rupert  street,  Haymarket.' 

"  Mr.  Bailey  said  also,  that  *  Mr.  Robert  Colling  has  a  white  heifer, 
four  years  old,  a  perfect  counterpart  of  his  brother  Charles'  ox,  being, 
like  him,  completely  covered  over  her  whole  carcass  with  fat ;  she  is 
estimated  to  weigh  130  stone  (14  Ibs.),  [1820  Ibs.]  Mr.  Robert  Colling 
also  sold  at  Darlington  Market,  April  18,  1808,  a  two-year-old  steer 
for  £22,  supposed  to  weigh  63  stone  (14  Ibs.),  the  price  of  the  fat 
stock  being  75.  per  stone.  The  Yellow  Cow  put  to  Favorite  (252), 
produced  lot  55,  North  Star  (459).  At  the  time  of  the  sale  he  was 
eleven  years  old,  a  grand  old  bull,  with  fine  hair  and  handling. 
Mr.  Wetherell  used  him  at  Holme  House  two  years,  Mr.  Wiley  had 

*  Called  "  Favorite  Cow,"  recorded  p.  310,  Vol.  i,  English  Herd  Book.— L.  F.  A. 
t  She  was  twinned  with  a  bull — a  free  marten,  and  of  course,  barren. — L.  F.  A. 
%  White  Heifer's  portrait  is  frontispiece  to  Vol.  5,  American  Herd  Book. — L.  F.  A. 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  CATTLE.        85 

him  also  for  a  period  at  120  guineas,  and  Mr.  Hustler  also.  He 
was  sire  of  the  highest  priced  heifer,  Sweetbrier,  lot  60,  and  of  Gol- 
den Pippin,  lot  9.  Venus  appears  to  have  bred  a  bull,  Adonis  (7), 
and  a  heifer  with  the  Hon.  J.  B.  Simpson,  and  Clara  two  bulls — 
one  of  them  Eryholme  (1018),  and  a  heifer  with  Mr.  Thomas.  Sir 
H.  Vane  Tempest  bought  Tragedy  of  this  tribe  privately  from  Mr. 
Robert  Colling,  and  through  Sir  Charles  Knightley's  herd  we  believe 
descendants  of  this  line  may  still  be  traced. 

"  Another  tribe  ( Wildair  or  Hubback  tribe)  came  originally  from  the 
stock  of  Sir  William  St.  Quintin,  of  Scampston.  This  was  a  favorite 
family  with  Mr.  Robert  Colling,  who  considered  (Major  Rudd  stated) 
that  this  tribe  came  from  the  same  source  as  Hubback  (319).  Juno, 
lot  3,  and  Diana,  lot  4,  sisters,  were  of  it,  also  Wildair,  lot  7,  and 
Nonpareil,  lot  23,  the  highest  priced  cow,  a  fine  roan,  considered  the 
best  animal  in  the  sale,  and  one  of  the  finest  cows  ever  seen.  Her 
heifer,  Sweetbrier,  lot  38,  bought  by  Mr.  Maynard,  was  a  red  and 
white,  and  made  the  greatest  price  among  the  heifers.  Marske  (418) 
was  of  this  family,  and  although  in  his  twelfth  year  made  50  guineas. 
He  had  previously  been  hired  by  Mr.  Hutton,  of  Marske,  whence  his 
name ;  by  Mr.  Bates,  and  Lord  Strathmore.  Earl  Spencer  was  not 
fortunate  with  those  he  purchased,  as  most  of  their  produce  died  or 
brought  bull  calves.  Nor  was  the  Hon.  J.  B.  Simpson  lucky  with  his. 
At  Mr.  Maynard 's  sale  in  1839,  descendants  of  Sweetbrier,  made  the 
highest  prices.  One  of  them,  May  Rose  (103  guineas),  was  bought 
by  Mr.  Wetherell  for  Mr.  Fox,  Ireland,  with  whom  she  bred  four 
calves,  and  was  purchased  in  1841  by  Mr.  Parkinson,  of  Ley  Fields. 
Formosa  (38  guineas),  out  of  May  Rose's  dam,  was  bought  as  a  heifer 
by  Mr.  Houldsworth,  of  Farnsfield,  and  at  his  sale  in  1841,  Mr.  Torr 
bought  her  heifer,  Flora  of  Farnsfield,  as  a  yearling,  for  41  guineas. 
It  is  from  this  heifer  that  the  Flower  tribe,  the  finest  animals  at 
Aylesby,  are  bred,  and  which  trace  directly  back  to  this  favorite 
family  of  Mr.  Robert  Colling.  Lord  Feversham's  Wildair  bred  one 
heifer,  Phcenix,  and  four  bulls,  amongst  them  Emperor  (1013).  At 
Barmpton  she  first  produced  Caroline,  lot  16,  and  the  celebrated  bull 
Harold  (291),  lot  64.  This  bull,  a  white,  was  used  by  Mr.  Wiley,  and 
went  to  Messrs.  Whitaker,  Alderson,  and  Earnshaw.  In  the  1820  sale 
the  highest  priced  female  is  also  of  this  tribe,  viz. :  Young  Nonpareil, 
lot  27,  sold  for  151  guineas  to  Mr.  W.  Smith.  She  bred  three  bulls, 
and  was  sold  in  1827  to  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield.  Her  son,  lot  52, 
Eclipse  (238),  was  used  by  Messrs.  Craddock  &  Charge. 


86  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

"Golden  Pippin,  lot  9,  and  Clarissa,  lot  17,  were  evidently  from 
one  tribe  (Beauty  or  Punch  tribe) ;  Mr.  Colling  got  it  from  Mr.  G. 
Best,  of  Manfield,  and  it  traces  further  back  than  is  stated  in  the 
catalogue.  Beauty,  who  was  from  the  cow  that  bred  Punch  (531), 
took  a  first  premium  at  Darlington ;  her  excellence  brought  Punch 
(531),  a  yellow  red  bull,  into  notice.  Punch  was  the  sire  of  the  dam 
of  Charles  Ceiling's  Old  Daisy,  whose  granddaughter,  Lily,  was  the 
highest  priced  cow  at  the  Ketton  sale.  Also  of  Ben  {70),  and  Twin 
Brother  to  Ben  (660),  both  used  by  Mr.  Booth.  Mr.  Robert  Colling 
said  that  Ben  had  the  best  blood,  and  he  begot  the  dam  of  Red  Rose, 
lot  i,  and  Old  Wildair,  own  sister  to  the  celebrated  bull  Phenomenon 
(491),  used  by  Sir  H.  Vane  Tempest,  and  whom  Mr.  Parrington  con- 
sidered a  finer  bull  than  Comet  (155).  This  line  of  blood  is  happily 
yet  preserved.  Mr.  Whitaker  bred  Nonsuch  and  others  from  Golden 
Pippin ;  the  family  then  went  to  Mr.  Maynard,  from  whom  it  has 
passed  by  various  changes,  under  the  name  of  Nonsuch,  to  the  pres- 
ent possessor,  Mr.  Adkins,  of  Milcote. 

"  There  is  no  record  from  whence  the  Red  Rose*  tribe,  lot  i,  came. 
She  was  own  sister  to  the  American  Cow,  the  first  female  named  in 
the  now  fashionable  Cambridge  Rose  line.  It  is  said  that  the  American 
Cow  got  her  name  from  going  out  to  America  early  in  the  century. f 
She  was  bred  by  R.  Colling,  and  sold  by  him  when  a  yearling  to  go  to 
America.  When  the  stock  of  Red  Rose  and  Moss  Rose  became  of 
such  note  she  was  brought  back  by  Mr.  Hustler  to  England,  and 
produced  at  Acklam  in  1811,  Red  Rose,  by  Yarborough  (705),  for 
which  Mr.  Hustler  refused  400  guineas,  and  which  Mr.  Bates  bought 
in  1819.  At  the  time  of  the  sale  Red  Rose,  then  seventeen  years  old, 
had  been  a  magnificent  cow,  but  was  very  patchy;  she  had  large 
cushions  of  fat  on  her  rumps,  whilst  her  fore  quarters  were  light. 
Moss  Rose,  lot  2,  her  daughter  by  her  own  sire,  was  a  very  good  cow, 
a  handsome  roan,  very  even,  wide  and  massive,  of  fine  symmetry  and 
quality,  but  by  some  thought  to  be  rather  small.  Red  Rose  had  been 
a  regular  and  excellent  breeder,  more  especially  of  bulls,  among 
which  were  Miner  .(441),  used  by  Lord  Strathmore  and  Mr.  Jobling, 
with  whom  he  got  Wellington  (683),  Midas  (435),  lot  56,  a  great,  fine 
bull,  with  hind  quarters  super-excellent,  Baronet  (62),  lot  60,  and 
Pilot  (496),  lot  65,  also  the  granddam  of  Lord  Althorpe's  Regent 
(544),  lot  61.  Of  these  bulls,  Midas  (435),  had  been  let  to  Mr. 
Robertson,  Ladykirk,  for  three  years  at  300  gs.,  to  Mr.  Arbuthnot  for 

*  Calved  in  1801,  English  Herd  Book,  Vol.  i,  p.  456.— L.  F.  A. 
t  See  page  54,  ante.—L.  F.  A. 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  CATTLE.        87 

two  years,  at  300  gs.,  and  into  Yorkshire,  making  altogether,  in  let- 
tings  and  sale,  noo  guineas.  Sir  W.  Cooke  bid  for  him,  but  Mr. 
Wiley  bought  him  for  270  guineas.  He  died  suddenly  at  Brandsby, 
having  got  only  two  calves.  Mr.  Wiley  returned  to  Mr.  Colling 
greatly  disappointed,  and  asked  for  the  use  of  Barmpton  (54),  but 
Mr.  Colling  would  not  part  with  him  then  to  anybody,  as  he  consid- 
ered him  one  of  the  best  bulls  he  ever  had.  The  two  calves,  how- 
ever, turned  out  to  Mr.  Wiley  a  great  profit;  one  was  Midas  (1230), 
and  the  other  the  famous  Grazier  (1085).  This  bull  became  a  great 
celebrity ;  he  was  used  three  years  by  Sir  John  Johnstone,  who  chris- 
tened him  Grazier  on  account  of  his  good  qualities.  Mr.  W.  Smith, 
West  Rasen,  had  him  two  years,  Mr.  Slater  one  year,  and  Lord 
Feversham  and  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  for  some  time.  He  then  went 
home  and  was  used  by  Mr.  Wiley,  and  afterwards,  in  his  old  age,  by 
Sir  John  Ramsden,  with  whom  he  died  in  his  fourteenth  year,  and 
was  buried  in  his  skin.  He^was  a  fine,  massive  bull,  a  dark  red,  and 
a  little  white  in  his  fore  quarters.  Baronet  (62),  also  a  good  bull, 
was  hired  by  Sir  Charles  Loraine,  who  bought  him  in  1820,  and  took 
in  five  cows  of  Mr.  Wetherell's  at  10  guineas  ($52)  each.  Pilot  (496) 
has  been  described  in  Mr.  Carr's  History  of  the  Booth  Cattle ;  he 
was  a  red  and  white,  rather  a  small  bull,  but  of  good  quality  and  a 
good  stock  getter.  At  the  time  of  the  sale,  Mr.  J.  G.  Dixon  and 
Major  Brown  joined  purses  in  order  to  buy  a  good  bull,  and  Mr. 
Dixon  bid  from  100  to  250  guineas,  at  10  guineas  biddings,  opposed 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Booth,  who  bought  him  for  270  guineas  ($1,404). 

"  Red  Rose's  daughter,  Rosette,  lot  20,  made  300  guineas,  and  bred 
four  heifers,  of  which  there  is  now  no  trace.  At  eleven  years  old  she 
was  sold  at  Lord  Althorp's  sale  in  1825,  for  25  guineas.  Ruby,  lot 
32,  made  the  second  highest  female  price,  331  guineas,  and  went  into 
Mr.  Robson's  large  herd,  which  is  said  to  have  contained  more  grand 
cows  than  any  other  herd  in  Lincolnshire.  Moss  Rose  bred  four 
calves,  three  bulls — Barmpton  (54),  Lancaster  (360),  and  one  that 
died  young — and  one  heifer,  lot  1 8,  Young  Moss  Rose,  which  went  to 
Lord  Feversham  for  190  guineas.  She  produced  one  heifer,  lot  33, 
at  Barmpton,  which  went,  with  Ruby,  lot  32,  into  Lincolnshire,  and 
two  heifers  at  Buncombe,  from  one  of  which,  Beauty,  by  Baron  (38), 
we  have  descendants  even  now  at  Stockeld  Park.  Barmpton  (54) 
was  a  small-sized,  beautiful  roan  bull,  as  neat  as  his  dam,  and  got 
splendid  stock ;  he  had  a  very  broad  back,  fine  quarters,  but  rather 
upright  shoulders,  and  most  of  the  heifer  calves  at  both  sales  were  by 
him.  Mr.  John  Wright  used  him  two  years,  first  at  60,  and  then  70 


88  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

guineas,  and  he  was  also  let  to  Mr.  Brooks  and  Mr.  Codd  in  Lincoln- 
shire ;  his  stock  were  considered  to  be  better  than  North  Star's  (459). 
His  sire,  George  (275),  was  a  very  magnificent  bull,  and  an  excellent 
getter ;  he  fell  by  accident  and  broke  his  neck,  not  before,  however, 
Mr.  Colling  had  sold  privately  five  out  of  his  six  heifers  at  200  guineas 
each.  He  was  out  of  Lady  Grace,  the  dam  of  Empress,  lot  15,  a 
grand  animal,  and  a  high  priced  one ;  Mr.  Champion  bought  her  and 
her  daughter,  lot  49,  but  there  is  none  of  the  tribe  left  now.  Lan- 
caster (360)  was  a  white  bull,  of  fine  quality,  but  narrow,  thin,  lanky, 
and  small ;  he  was  let  as  a  yearling,  to  Major  Rudd,  who,  at  the  time 
of  the  sale,  had  fourteen  extraordinary  two-year-old  heifers,  got  by 
him,  in  one  pasture,  which  were  the  talk  of  the  country.  This,  per- 
haps, with  the  fact  of  his  being  from  so  grand  a  cow,  and  having 
served  all  the  stock,  made  him  sell  so  high.  Mr.  Whitaker  was  the 
chief  opponent,  and  at  620  guineas  claimed  the  bull;  the  auctioneer, 
however,  ruled  against  him,  having  had  another  guinea  bid  by  Messrs. 
Simpson  &  Smith.  Mr.  Whitaker  then  had  Mr.  Charge's  bull,  Fred- 
erick (1060).  A  rumor  was  current  that  Lancaster  was  delicate  and 
unhealthy,  but  he  got  stock  at  Dishley  till  1827  [then  14  years  old], 
and  at  the  Hon.  H.  B.  Simpson's  sale  in  1838,  Mr.  White,  the  auc- 
tioneer, alluded  to  this  rumor,  and  said  there  were  animals  ten  years 
of  age  before  the  bull  left  the  farm.  Besides  the  Cambridge  Roses 
and  those  at  Stockeld  Park,  we  believe  there  are  a  very  few  animals 
remaining  that  can  now  be  traced  to  this  magnificent  family. 

"  The  two  high  priced  heifers,  lots  41  and  43,  bought  by  Mr. 
Wetherell,  were  unfortunate ;  when  of  age  they  were  sent  for  service 
to  Mr.  Mason's,  at  15  guineas  each.  Lady  Ann  died  in  calf  with 
twins,  and  Cleopatra  had  a  heifer  calf  that  never  bred;  they  were 
two  magnificent  heifers.  Lot  40,  Cowslip,  bred  a  heifer  by  Ratify 
(2481),  called  Young  Cowslip.  This  heifer  was  sold  to  Mr.  Budding, 
of  Panton,  and  produced  a  large  family,  from  which  came  Mr.  Rich's 
Ursula  tribe,  and  many  others  from  the  Panton  sales. 

"  Of  the  other  sources  whence  Mr.  Robert  Colling  derived  his 
stock,  little  is  known,  except  that,  like  Charles,  he  selected  the  best 
county  stock  from  his  neighbors,  and  occasionally  bought  at  Yarm 
fair.  Mr.  Watson,  of  Stapleton,  Mr.  Alexander  Hall,  of  Haughton, 
Mr.  Wright,  and  Mr.  Best,  of  Manfield,  supplied  females,  and  some 
came  from  Mr.  Hill,  of  Blackwell  (see  lot  10).  It  was  from  this  stock 
of  Mr.  Hill's  that  Captain  Turnell,  of  Reasby,  Lincolnshire,  got  his  first 
cattle,  which  were  the  originals  of  the  well  known  and  still  favorite 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  CATTLE.       89 

red  Turnell  blood  in  South  Lincolnshire.     The  following  letter  from 
Mr.  Hutchinson  relates  to  lots  35  and  36  : 

"'In  October,  1818,  when  Mr.  Robert  Ceiling's  sale  catalogue 
came  out,  I  was  glad  to  perceive  two  heifers,  Jessy  and  Jewel  (twins) ; 
their  dam  from  the  stock  of  the  late  Mr.  Hill,  of  Blackwell,  were 
there  advertised,  got  by  Wellington  (680),  and  the  former  in  calf  to 
Barmpton  (54),  both  bulls  highly  esteemed,  and  Jessy  herself  what  I 
thought  an  excellent  heifer,  and  the  better  of  the  two.  My  idea  was 
that  this  heifer  from  the  Blackwell  herd,  with  only  two  crosses  by  the 
leading  bull  of  Mr.  R.  Colling's,  would  be  a  better  speculation  and 
more  likely  to  breed  better  stock  than  any  cow  or  heifer  of  what  was 
then  considered  pure  blood,  all  of  which  had  been  bred  through  thick 
and  thin  for  countless  generations.  On  Jessy's  coming  to  the  ham- 
mer, I  became  her  purchaser  at  43  guineas,  the  very  lowest  priced 
cow  that  day,  excepting  a  six-year-old  cow  of  the  same  breed,  Old 
Blackwell ;  and  Mr.  Brown^  of  Welbourn,  Lincolnshire,  immediately 
after  bought  Jewel,  her  twin  sister,  at  50  guineas.  I  was  well  satisfied 
with  my  bargain,  and  Mr.  Brown  expressed  himself  so  with  his.  In 
the  April  following  Jessy  produced  me  a  heifer  calf,  very  small  and 
very  delicate,  which,  however,  with  great  care  was  reared,  and  is  now 
the  heifer  I  invite  connoisseurs  to  inspect.  She  is  a  wonderful  and 
beautiful  sight,  and  may  safely  challenge  a  comparison  for  excellence 
with  the  highest  priced  cows  of  that  day.  Jessy  has  since  produced 
me  two  heifers  to  my  own  bulls,  which  promise  to  make  very  large, 
fine  cows,  and  she  is  now  giving  twelve  quarts  of  milk  at  a  meal,  six 
months  after  calving.' 

"The  sale  in  1820  contained  those  Short-horns  which  were  not 
in  condition  for  sale  in  1818.  At  this  sale,  Mr.  J.  G.  Dixon  of 
Caistor  was  the  purchaser  of  two  lots.  Mrs.  Charles  Colling  was 
present  and  told  him  that  Barmpton 's  blood  should  always  be  kept 
sight  of,  as  he  was  one  of  their  best  tribes.  Strawberry  was  intended 
for  the  first  sale,  but  she  calved  and  did  not  do  well,  and  so  was 
reserved  till  1820.  On  the  long  walk  home  she  slipped  calf,  but  bred 
well  afterwards.  Young  Strawberry,  her  daughter,  took  a  prize  at 
sixteen  years  old,  and  lived  till  she  was  twenty-seven.*  Descendants 
of  these  cows  are  still  in  Mr.  Dixon 's  possession,  and  their  bull  pro- 
duce has  been  disseminated  among  the  farmers  in  Lincolnshire  to  the 
great  improvement  of  the  stock  in  the  district. 

*  Who  will  say  that  the  Short-horns,  as  a  race,  lack  either  constitution,  vitality,  fertility  in 
breeding,  or  longevity  ? — L.  F.  A . 


90  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

"  Hubback  was  one  of  the  first  bulls  Mr.  Robert  Colling  used,  of 
which  an  account  is  given  in  the  Ketton  Short-horns.  He  had 
seventeen  cows  served  by  him  in  the  season,  and  in  November,  as  the 
bull  was  bought  at  Easter,  Mr.  Charles  Colling  said  if  the  bull  was 
done  with  for  the  season  he  would  give  8  guineas  for  him ;  he  was 
sold,  the  original  cost,  10  guineas,  being  divided  by  Mr.  Robert 
Colling  and  Mr.  Waistell.  The  bull  took  offense  at  a  gray  pony  Mr. 
Robert  Colling  used  to  ride,  and  was  a  little  troublesome.  Manfield 
(404)  was  used  at  a  very  early  period.  Broken  Horn  (95),  appears 
to  have  succeeded  Hubback,  and  was  followed  by  Punch  (531), 
Favorite  (252),  Comet  (155),  Wellington  (680),  a  very  fine  bull,  used 
four  seasons,  and  others  as  in  the  catalogue.  He  also  had  the  use  of 
his  brother's  bulls  at  Ketton. 

"  Northumberland,  Durham,  Yorkshire  and  Lincolnshire,  supplied 
most  of  the  bull  hirers,  and  the  buyers  at  the  sales  came  from  those 
counties  as  well  as  Nottingham,  Leicester,  and  Northampton.  Culley, 
in  his  general  view  of  the  Agriculture  of  Northumberland,  says, 
'  hiring  bulls  for  the  season  is  practiced  in  this  county;  as  high  as  50 
guineas  have  been  paid  for  a  bull  of  the  Short-horn  breed  for  one 
season,  and  from  3  to  5  guineas  given  for  serving  a  cow,  but  the  more 
common  rate  is  a  guinea.'  The  principal  hirers  were  Lord  Strath- 
more,  Sir  H.  Vane  Tempest,  Sir  G.  Strickland,  Mr.  Robertson,  Mr. 
Jobling,  Mr.  Jobson,  Mr.  Gibson,  Colonel  Trotter,  Major  Rudd,  Mr. 
Baker,  Mr.  Barker,  Mr.  Booth,  Mr.  Buston,  Mr.  Hustler,  Mr.  Weth- 
erell,  and  Mr.  Wiley.  Mr.  Jobson  also  stated  that  prior  to  1773  his 
father  got  bulls  from  Durham,  and  the  last  cross  of  the  well  known 
Sonsie  tribe  is  a  Son  of  Ben  (70),  or  Punch  (531). 

"At  the  sale  in  1818  Mr.  Robert  Colling  was  asked,  'Who  has  your 
best  blood? '  'Well,  I  think,'  said  he,  'Lincolnshire  has  got  most  of 
my  best  blood.'  The  breeders  from  Lincolnshire,  who  hired,  were 
Mr.  R.  Ostler  and  Mr.  Skipworth  at  Aylesby;  Mr.  W.  Brooks  and 
Mr.  R.  Cropper  at  Laceby;  Mr.  J.  Grant,  Wyham;  and  Mr.  J.  Codd, 
Holton,  all  living  in  the  district  between  Grimsby  and  Caistor.  The 
bulls  were  slightly  shod  and  walked  down  about  eight  or  nine  miles  a 
day,  and  age  had  little  consideration.  The  most  noted  bulls  were 
Own  Brother  to  the  White  Heifer  [that  Traveled],  Ceiling's  (Robert) 
White  Bull  (151),  Aylesby  (44),  Barmpton  (54),  and  Major  (398). 
C.  Colling's  Major  (397),  bought  at  the  Ketton  sale,  was  thought  the 
handsomer  and  better  of  the  two. 

"  There  is  no  mention  made  in  this  paper  of  Sir  H.  Vane  Tempest's 
celebrated  cow  Princess,  nor  of  Col.  Trotter's  stock,  both  of  whom, 


ROBERT  COLLING'S  CATTLE.  91 

as  well  as  Mr.  Robertson,  Mr.  Champion,  and  others,  bought  privately 
from  Mr.  R.  Colling.  The  Princess  tribe  may  possibly  be  noticed  in 
a  future  paper,  when  Sir  H.  Vane  Tempest's  catalogue  is  reprinted, 
but  the  name  of  the  Sylphs  (Sweethearts  and  Charmers)  and  the 
Mantalinis,  the  former  tracing  from  'Russell,'  the  latter  from 
'Alpine,'  both  cows  by  Robert  Ceiling's  Son  of  Favorite  (252)  [the 
Son  being  out  of  a  Punch  cow]  and  from  Col.  Trotter's  herd,  are 
high  evidence,  even  in  the  present  day,  of  the  excellence  of  the 
original  Barmpton  stock. 

"  It  has  been  said  that  Robert  Ceiling's  stock  were  delicate ;  there 
is  little  foundation  for  this,  and  it  may  have  arisen  from  the  delicacy 
of  Mr.  Champion's  cattle ;  Mr.  Paley  said  that  the  rottenness  of  the 
Warrior  (673)  family  came  from  Diana,  lot  3,  and  Mr.  Champion's 
son  attributed  it  to  Mason's  Charles  (127);  Mr.  Bates  also  attributed 
delicacy  to  Mason's  St.  John  (572).  Land  and  atmosphere  may  have 
had  something  to  do  with  this.  Those  who  saw  the  herd  in  its  best 
days,  before  and  at  the  sales,  say  that  the  cattle  were  always  seen  in 
good  condition  and  shewed  vigorous  constitutions ;  it  is,  however,  a 
singular  fact  that  we  have  now  scarcely  any  stock  remaining  from 
those  animals  that  went  into  the  Retford  (Notts)  district,  whilst  there 
are  numbers  tracing  from  that  blood  which  went  into  Yorkshire,  Lin- 
colnshire, and  the  Lake  district,  where  the  yellow  roan  and  red  were 
looked  upon  as  the  pure  breed,  the  dark  red  being  held  in  no  favor.* 

"Although  the  average  of  the  Barmpton  sale,  1818,  was  under  that 
of  Ketton,  i8io,f  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  a  better 
sale.  In  1810  things  were  at  war  price  and  everything  high,  whilst 
in  1818  there  was  peace,  and  a  general  depression  upon  agriculture. 
The  Alloy  blood,  too,  in  the  Ketton  stock  tended  to  promote  compe- 
tition for  the  purer  strains  at  Barmpton.  The  bulls  are  said  by  Mr. 
Wetherell  to  have  been  the  finest  lot  he  ever  saw  at  one  sale.  They 
doubled  the  average  of  the  cows,  and,  taking  the  highest  priced 
family  at  Ketton  against  the  highest  priced  one  at  Barmpton,  we  have 
the  following  result  in  favor  of  the  Barmpton  stock :  At  Ketton,  the 
Phcenix  tribe,  sixteen  (including  Comet  1000  guineas)  averaged 
£221  35.;  at  Barmpton,  the  Red  Rose  tribe,  eleven  (including  Lan- 
caster 621  guineas)  averaged  ^269  35.  6d. ;  and  the  thirteen  favorite 
Wildairs  averaged  £142  175.  6d. 

*  The  strong  partiality  to  a  deep  red  color  in  Short-horns,  which  now  prevails  among  a  large 
majority  of  the  American  breeders,  and  which  we  think  a  mistaken  partiality,  had  then  no  exist- 
ence among  the  English  breeders. — L.  F.  A. 

t  Charles  Ceiling's  sale.— L.  F.  A. 


92  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

"  Mr.  Robert  Colling  always  opposed  his  brother  using  [the  Alloy] 
Grandson  of  Bolingbroke  (280),  and  told  Mr.  Wiley  that  he  did  not 
consider  his  brother's  herd  nor  his  own  better  than  other  good  herds, 
except  the  Phcenix  tribe.  In  1815  he  stated  that  'whatever  I  know 
of  the  art  of  breeding  cattle  I  owe  to  the  late  Mr.  George  Culley.'* 
He  [Robert  Colling]  was  a  stately,  reserved  man,  the  opposite  to  his 
brother  Charles,  kind  in  his  manner  and  straightforward  in  all  his 
dealings,  keeping  a  good  house  and  high  company,  and  was  liked  by 
all  who  knew  him.  Robert  was  one  of  the  earliest  disciples  and 
most  intimate  friends  of  the  great  Bakewell,  and  there  is  little  doubt 
that  Bakewell's  great  principle  of  in-and-in  breeding  was  carried  out 
most  successfully  by  the  Collings.  Father  to  daughter  and  mother  to 
son,  were  the  principal  direct  alliances,  and  the  system  was  continued 
so  long  as  robustness  and  form  were  upheld."! 

Comparing  the  two  herds  of  Robert  and  Charles,  somewhat  differ- 
ent opinions  were  entertained  by  their  contemporaries  of  the  supe- 
riority of  one  over  the  other.  Both  of  them  bred  animals  of  marked 
excellence  and  fame  in  their  own  time,  and  that  excellence  and  fame 
have  been  perpetuated  through  their  blood  down  to  the  present  day. 
Robert,  in  his  personal  character,  was  more  quiet  and  reticent; 
Charles,  the  more  active,  self-confident,  and  prominent  before  the 
public.  Robert  was  equally  sound  in  judgment,  dabbling  in  no  ex- 
periments, while  Charles  was  more  or  less  versatile  in  both  opinion 
and  practice.  In  a  striking  and  no  doubt  accurate  portrait  of  the 
two  brothers  in  our  possession,  that  of  Robert  is  remarkably  good- 
looking  and  portly,  the  features  of  the  face  expressive  of  an  honest, 
upright  man.  That  of  Charles,  although  still  portly  in  look,  is  less 
handsome  than  his  brother;  the  face  has  not  an  equal  frankness, 
and  a  little  cunning,  withal,  seems  lurking  in  the  expression. 

*  Culley  was  an  advocate  of  Bakewell's  system  of  breeding. — L.  F.  A. 

t  We  have  no  account  that  the  "robustness  and  form"  ever  died  out  while  the  in-and-in  breed- 
ing stock  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Collings.— L.  F.  A. 


THE    COLLINGS'    IMPROVEMENT.  93 


DID  THE  COLLINGS  IMPROVE  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  SHORT-HORNS 
ABOVE  THEIR  EXISTING  CONDITION  WHEN  THEY  COMMENCED 
BREEDING?  WERE  THE  COLLINGS'  HERDS  SUPERIOR  TO  THOSE 
OF  THEIR  CONTEMPORARY  BREEDERS  AT  THE  TIMES  OF  THEIR 
FINAL  SALES? 

After  discussing  at  such  length  as  we  have  already  done  the  prac- 
tice in  breeding  by  the  Collings,  it  may  seem  superfluous  to  add 
another  word.  We  have  seen  that  they  were  men  of  sagacity  and 
enterprise ;  that  they  found,  in  the  outset  of  their  breeding  life,  the 
Short-horns  a  local,  although  ancient  breed,  existing  in  but  a  few 
counties  of  the  north-eastern  quarter  of  England;  that  although 
these  cattle  possessed  admirable  qualities  in  themselves,  and  of  great 
value,  through  the  crosses  of  their  blood,  as  instruments  to  improve 
the  general  herds  then  existing  in  other  sections  of  the  Short-horn 
region,  they  were  still  little  known  beyond  their  own  immediate  local- 
ities. In  view  of  these  facts,  when  establishing  their  own  herds  they 
selected  the  best  animals  within  their  reach,  bred  them  with  success, 
and  determined  to  make  them  known,  and  give  them  a  currency 
throughout  those  parts  of  the  kingdom  where  they  hitherto  had  been, 
and  measurably  were  still  strangers.  In  this  they  succeeded.  Not 
only  did  they  so  succeed,  but  by  adopting  a  course  of  breeding  at 
that  time,  and  in  their  own  immediate  section,  almost  if  not  alto- 
gether unpracticed,  they  reared  superior  cattle  to  many  of  the  herds 
around  them,  and  drew  public  attention  conspicuously  to  their  own 
herds  and  to  their  modes  of  breeding. 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  their  contemporaries  may  have  charged 
them  with  a  species  of  pretension  in  their  practice,  but  as  their  course 
of  breeding  was  open  and  well  known  to  those  around  them,  and 
they  relied  on  public  favor  to  sustain  their  efforts  by  purchases  of 
their  stock,  it  is  to  be  presumed  their  persistence  in  the  course  which 
they  had  adopted  was  on  the  conviction  that  it  was  the  correct  one, 
leading  to  the  largest  success,  not  only  in  a  pecuniary  result,  but  in 
the  improvement  of  their  stock  to  the  highest  perfection  of  their  day. 
Such,  it  appears,  was  the  conclusion  of  those  who  closely  studied 
their  practice,  and  to  the  Collings  should  be  awarded  the  credit  of 
success. 

Not  but  that  there  were  other  breeders — unnamed,  or  but  slightly 
alluded  to  in  these  pages — who,  by  a  different  course  of  breeding, 
had  produced  animals  equally  good  as  those  of  the  Collings',  but  by 


94  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

their  less  active  enterprise  they  failed  to  achieve  that  notoriety  and 
high  position  which  the  Collings  attained  and  held  until  they  retired 
from  the  pursuit.  The  blood  of  their  stocks,  from  their  frequent  bull 
sales  and  lettings  became  widely  disseminated  through  other  herds, 
far  and  near.  Many  of  their  cows  were  distributed  by  sales  into 
neighboring  as  well  as  distant  herds,  and  the  agricultural  public  at 
large  were  benefited,  so  far  as  it  chose  to  be,  by  their  labors. 

One  thing  is  certain,  more  good  Short-horns  for  eighty  years  past, 
trace  their  pedigrees  into  the  blood  of  the  Colling  bulls,  through  the 
Herd  Books,  than  into  the  bulls  of  any  twenty  other  English  breed- 
ers put  together,  which  may  be  deemed  circumstantial  if  not  positive 
testimony  of  the  successful  results  of  their  breeding.  "All,"  to  be 
sure,  "is  not  gold  that  glitters,"  as  we  have  seen  too  much  of 
assumption  in  our  own  day  to  believe  that  all  men  are  benefactors 
who  receive  the  laudations  of  the  public  for  acts  in  which,  were  the 
truth  wholly  known,  other  less  pretentious  parties  would  have  the 
credit ;  yet  it  is  but  justice  that  we  record  a  testimonial  of  his  old 
friends  and  neighbors,  awarded  to  Charles  on  his"  retirement  from 
breeding,  soon  after  the  public  sale  of  his  stock.  It  was  the  offering 
of  a  valuable  piece  of  plate  with  the  following  inscription : 

PRESENTED   TO 

MR.   CHARLES  COLLING, 

THE   GREAT   IMPROVER   OF  THE   SHORT-HORNED    BREED    OF   CATTLE, 
BY    THE     BREEDERS 

(Upwards  ofjifty), 
WHOSE   NAMES   ARE  ANNEXED, 

AS  A  TOKEN  OF  GRATITUDE  DUE  FOR  THE  BENEFIT  THEY  HAVE  DERIVED  FROM  HIS  JUDGMENT, 
AND   ALSO   AS   A  TESTIMONY   OF  THEIR   ESTEEM    FOR   HIM   AS   A   MAN. 

1810. 

The  address  and  adroitness  of  Charles  may  possibly  have  had 
something  to  do  with  this  exclusive  testimonial,  to  a  share  in  which 
we  think  his  brother  Robert  was  equally  entitled.  Uncharitable 
minds  might  liken  it  to  the  defrauding  of  Esau  of  his  birthright  by 
his  more  cunning  brother  Jacob,  but  as  the  more  generous  Robert 
did  not  complain,  we  may  suppose  the  offering  to  be  an  honest  one, 
so  far  as  Charles  was  concerned.  In  summing  up  the  labors  of  the 
brothers  Colling,  from  all  the  evidence  we  have  been  enabled  to 
glean — not  forgetting  the  meritorious  efforts  of  many  of  their  con- 
temporary breeders — they  may  be  said,  Robert  equally  with  Charles, 
to  have  improved  the  many  admirable  qualities  of  the  Short-horns, 
and  in  such  result  merited  the  appellation  of  benefactors. 


THE    BOOTH    SHORT-HORNS.  95 


CHAPTER     IV. 

THE  BOOTH  FAMILY  AND  THEIR  SHORT-HORNS. 

IN  chronological  order,  next  to  the  Collings,  among  the  prominent 
earlier  breeders  come  the  Booths.  As  our  account  must  of  necessity 
be  an  intermixture  of  their  several  names  in  the  notices  of  their  herds, 
an  explanation  of  their  personalities  will,  as  we  proceed,  become 
necessary. 

Thomas  Booth,  the  elder  and  first  of  the  family  connected  with 
Short-horn  breeding,  was  contemporary  with  the  Collings.  His 
grandson,  the  present  Thomas  C.  Booth,  related  to  the  late  Richard 
L.  Allen,  of  New  York,  who  met  him  at  the  great  Yorkshire  Agricul- 
tural Show,  in  August,  1869,  that  "his  grandfather  began  breeding 
Short-horns  in  1777,  at  or  near  Studley  Park,  and  was  a  neighbor 
and  rival  of  Robert  and  Charles  Colling."  Yet  we  have  no  particular 
account  of  the  earlier  animals  of  his  breeding,  or  what  was  their 
particular  character.  We  find  no  record  of  animals  of  their  herd 
earlier  than  such  as  are  recorded  in  Vol.  i,  E.  H.  B.,  where  all  their 
animals  trace  their  genealogy  into  bulls  bred  by  the  Collings,  from 
which  it  is  presumed  that  they  derived  their  stock  on  the  sires'  side 
chiefly,  or  altogether,  from  them  some  years  after  they  began  breed- 
ing ;  so  that  the  elder  Booth  in  the  production  of  the  stock  which 
gave  him  his  chief  celebrity  bred  them  from  the  Colling  bulls.  The 
legitimate  foundation  of  his  herds  may  be  dated  at  Kiilerby,  in  York- 
shire, about  the  year  1790.  Previous  to  this  he  had  become  the 
owner  of  the  estates  of  Kiilerby  and  Warlaby,  not  far  apart,  and  at 
no  great  distance  from  Darlington,  and  within  easy  access  to  the 
places  then  occupied  by  the  brothers  Colling.  Thomas  Booth  had 
two  sons,  Richard  and  John,  both  of  whom  afterwards  became  Short- 
horn breeders,  conjointly  with,  and  succeeding  their  father.  Of  the 
brothers,  Richard  was  probably  the  most  skillful,  and  being  through 
life  a  bachelor,  with  no  family  cares  to  divert  his  attention,  his  sym- 
pathies and  affections  were  chiefly  absorbed  in  the  propagation  and 


g6  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

improvement  of  his  stock ;  John  was  also  a  good  Short-horn  breeder. 
Like  the  brothers  Colling,  they  interchanged,  and  bred  mainly  from 
the  same  sources  of  blood. 

Passing  from  the  stage,  a  valuable  portion  of  the  herds  of  the 
brothers  fell  into  possession  of  the  present  Thomas  C.  Booth,  of 
Warlaby,  son  of  John,  and  nephew  to  Richard.  He  is  the  Booth  of 
the  present  day,  although  his  brother  John  and  his  son  J.  C.  Booth, 
of  Killerby,  are  also  Short-horn  breeders  to  some  extent,  and  chiefly 
in  the  stocks  of  the  family  tribe. 

With  these  preliminaries,  necessary  to  the  future  narration  of  their 
herds,  we  are  fortunately  favored  with  "  The  History  of  the  Rise  and 
Progress  of  the  Killerby,  Studley,  and  Warlaby  herds  of  Short-horns, 
by  William  Carr,"  published  in  London  in  1867.  This  work,  although 
highly  laudatory,  and  written  apparently  with  a  view  of  giving  a 
special  prominence  to  the  "Booth  blood,"  is  valuable  in  the  many 
facts  it  contains  touching  the  career  of  the  earlier  Booths,  and  their 
course  of  breeding,  as  also-  for  its  many  hints  and  suggestions  profita- 
ble to  breeders  of  the  present  day,  and  the  information  it  conveys  of 
the  dissemination  of  their  animals.  The  book  itself  is  scholarly  in 
style,  graphic  in  narration,  and  if  a  poetic  or  imaginative  tint  is  now 
and  then  detected  in  its  pages,  they  may  be  imputed  only  to  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  author,  and  not  to  a  disposition  to  mislead  the 
reader  into  a  false  estimate  of  the  noble  animals  he  so  partially  exalts. 

We  can  do  no  better,  perhaps,  than  to  quote  literally  from  the 
work  in  question,  with  occasional  explanatory  notes  of  our  own,  in 
order  to  give  the  reader  a  true  history,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  for 
our  purpose,  of  the  Booth  Short-horns : 

"  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  was  no  servile  imitator.  He  was  a  contem- 
porary of  the  Ceilings,  and  began  his  career  quite  independently  of 
them,  as  an  improver  of  the  cattle  of  the  same  district,  and  he  com- 
menced it  nearly  at  the  same  time.  Mr.  Booth  had  been  a  breeder 
of  Short-horns  many  years  when  the  celebrated  Durham  Ox,  bred  by 
Mr.  Charles  Colling,  was  first  exhibited  throughout  the  kingdom,  and 
drew  universal  attention  to  the  Short-horns.  He  afterwards  did  what 
wisdom  dictated,  availed  himself  of  the  Collings'  best  blood,  and 
incorporated  it  with  his  own ;  while  his  sons  and  grandsons  at  Killerby, 
at  Studley,  and  at  Warlaby,  have  continued  the  same  herd  down  to 
the  present  time,  and  given  it  a  world-wide  fame. 

"  Previously  to  the  year  1790  Mr.  Thomas  Booth,  who  was  then  the 
owner  of  the  Warlaby  and  Killerby  estates,  and  farmed  them  both, 
commenced  at  Killerby  the  breeding  of  Short-horns.  *  *  *  He 


THE    BOOTH    HERDS,  97 

obtained  his  rudimentary  stock  from  some  of  the  best  specimens  of 
these  Teeswater  Short-horns.  He  appears  to  have  proceeded  on  the 
principle  that  whilst  the  general  similitude  and  mingled  qualities  of 
both  parents  descend  to  the  offspring,  the  external  conformation — 
subject,  of  course,  to  some  modification  by  the  other  parent — is 
mainly  imparted  by  the  male,  and  the  vital  and  nutritive  organs  by 
the  female.  Acting  on  this  hypothesis,  he  was  careful  to  select  such 
well-framed  cows  only  as  evinced,  by  an  ample  capacity  of  chest,  a 
robust  constitution  and  a  predisposition  to  fatten,  and  such  moderate 
sized  males  as  possessed  in  the  highest  degree  then  attainable  the 
particular  external  points  and  proportions  he  deemed  desirable  to 
impress  upon  his  herd.  A  dairy  farmer  under  Lord  Harewood,  a 
Mr.  Broader,*  of  Fairholme,  in  the  parish  of  Ainderby,  appears  to 
have  possessed  some  cows  having  the  qualifications  required.  Tradi- 
tion speaks  of  them  as  unusually  fine  cattle  for  that  period ;  good 
dairy  cows,  and  great  grajzers  when  dry;  somewhat  incompact  in 
frame,  and  steerish  in  appearance,f  but  of  very  robust  constitution. 
Previously  to  the  year  1790,  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  had  bought  some 
calves  from  these  cows.  Strawberry  Fairholme,  Hazel  (/.  e.  flecked 
roan)  Fairholme,  and  Eight-and-twenty-shilling  Fairholme,  purchased 
from  Mr.  Broader's  farm,  have  the  honor  of  being  the  ancestresses  of 
several  illustrious  families  of  Short-horns. 

"  I  have  said  that  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  selected  moderate-sized  males. 
His  observant  eye  had  recognized,  as  indispensable  to  any  improve- 
ment in  the  symmetry  of  these  Teeswater  animals,  the  necessity  of 
reducing  in  size  and  stature  their  large,  loosely-knit  frames.  With 
this  view  he  decided  on  selecting  his  bulls  from  the  stock  of  his 
contemporaries,  Messrs.  Robert  and  Charles  Colling,  who  had  them- 
selves, to  some  extent,  effected  this  reduction  of  size,|  and  improve- 
ment of  form  and  fattening  capacity  in  their  stock,  chiefly  through 
the  use  of  Hubback,  a  small,  short-legged  bull.  Twin  Brother  to 
Ben  (660),  bred  by  the  Collings,  and  Booth's  Son  of  Twin  Brother  to 
Ben  (88),  were  the  first  bulls  used  by  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  to  these 
Fairholme  heifers.  These  bulls  had  the  short  legs,  the  long  and  level 
hind  quarters,  the  firm  backs  and  good  twists,  to  which  Mr.  Thomas 

*  Mr.  Broader's  cattle  do  not  appear  among  the  early  records  of  the  English  Herd  Book.  He 
probably  kept  nothing  but  notes  of  his  herd,  if  he  kept  pedigrees  at  all. — L.  F.  A. 

t  That  "  steerish  "  appearance,  in  the  heads,  particularly,  still  appertains  to  many  of  the  purely 
bred  Booth  cows  of  the  present  day. — L.  F.  A. 

%  It  might  be  a  reduction  in  size,  but  it  was  an  actual  increase  of  weight  which  the  Collings 
effected  by  breeding  smaller  boned,  more  compact  and  massive  animals,  than  their  progenitors. — 
L.  F.  A. 

7 


98  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Booth  attached  so  much  importance,  and  their  offspring  amply  testi- 
fied to  his  discrimination.  It  is  recorded  that  one  cow  by  the  former, 
and  her  daughter  by  the  latter  bull,  produced  six  calves  in  one  year, 
the  dam  having  twice  produced  twins,  and  the  daughter  once.  Four 
of  these  calves  were  heifers.  Some  of  the  offspring  were  very  supe- 
rior cows.  In  proof  of  the  excellent  foundation  they  afforded  for  the 
formation  of  a  herd,  it  is  affirmed  on  high  authority  that  one  of  the 
Twin  Brother  to  Ben  cows  produced,  to  Son  of  Twin  Brother  to  Ben, 
a  cow  quite  equal  to  Faith,  by  Raspberry,  the  dam  of  the  famous 
Hope.  Many  of  the  cows  were  deep  milkers,  but  running  dry  sooner 
than  was  then  usual,  when  they  gained  flesh  very  rapidly.  The  late 
Mr.  Ewbank,  of  Sober  Hill,  questioning  the  milking  capacity  of 
some  of  them  in  this  condition,  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  pointed  to  their 
broad  backs,  and  exclaimed,  *  Look  there !  that  is  worth  a  few  pints 
of  milk ! '  These  cows  were  further  open  to  Mr.  Ewbanks  criticism 
as  having  raw  noses,  as  he  contemptuously  termed  that  feature  when 
flesh-colored ;  alleging  that  in  his  early  days  the  farm  stock  was  nearly 
all  black-nosed,  and  that  he  never  knew  a  raw-nosed  cow  that  was  not 
delicate — a  prejudice  which  has  long  since  passed  away. 

"  Having  thus  judiciously  selected  the  best  animals  procurable  of 
both  sexes,  Mr.  T.  Booth  was  careful  to  pair  such,  and  such  only,  of 
the  produce  of  these  unions  as  presented  in  a  satisfactory  degree  the 
desired  characteristics,  with  animals  possessing  them  in  equal  or 
greater  measure,  and  unsparingly  to  reject — especially  from  his  male 
stock — all  such  as  were  not  up  to  the  required  standard.  Having  by 
these  means  succeeded  in  developing  and  establishing  in  his  herd  a 
definite  and  uniform  character,  he  sought  to  ensure  its  perpetuation 
by  breeding  from  rather  close  affinities,  as  in  his  opinion  the  only 
security  for  the  unfailing  transmission,  and  transmission  in  an  increased 
ratio,  of  these  acquired  distinctions  to  the  offspring.  In  tracing  the 
pedigrees  of  these  herds,  it  will  be  seen  that  from  the  earliest  period 
the  same  system  of  breeding  from  close  relations  which  was  pursued 
by  the  Collings  was  followed  by  the  Booths.  An  examination  of  the 
pedigree  of  Lady  Maynard  (alias  the  cow  Favorite)  will  show  to 
what  a  length  the  system  was  carried  by  the  earlier  breeders,  and  how 
closely  the  first  families  of  the  Colling  strain  were  allied  to  the  Booth 
tribes.  Further  proof  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  pedigrees  of  the 
earliest  bulls  used  by  Mr.  Thomas  Booth,  namely,  Twin  Brother  to 
Ben  (660),  Suworrow  (636),  Albion  (14),  Pilot  (496),  and  Marshal 
Beresford  (415).  Take,  for  example,  the  three  last  named.  Albion — 
purchased  at  Mr.  Charles  Ceiling's  sale  in  1810,  by  Mr.  T.  Booth,  Sr., 


THE    BOOTH    HERDS.  99 

for  60  guineas,  when  a  calf — was  by  a  bull  which  was  both  a  son  and 
grandson  of  Favorite  (252);  his  dam  was  by  a  son  of  Favorite,  and 
his  granddam  by  a  bull  who  was  not  only  a  son  of  Favorite,  but  also 
of  Favorite's  half-sister.  Pilot,  bred  by  Mr.  Robert  Colling,  was  by 
Major  (398)  or  Wellington  (680).  Major  was  by  a  son  and  grandson 
of  Favorite,  his  dam  by  a  son  of  Favorite,  his  granddam  by  Favorite, 
and  his  great  granddam  by  Favorite.  Wellington  was  by  a  son  and 
grandson  of  Favorite,  and  his  dam  was  by  Favorite.  Marshal  Beres- 
ford  was  by  a  son  and  grandson  of  Favorite,  his  dam  by  a  grandson 
of  Favorite,  and  his  granddam  by  Favorite.  Marshal  Beresford  came 
into  the  herd  in  an  exchange  for  some  cows  with  Major  Bower,  Mr. 
Thomas  Booth's  brother-in-law,  a  Short-horn  breeder,  then  living  at 
Welham.  On  returning  home  one  day,  Mr.  R.  Booth  found,  to  his  great 
annoyance,  that  his  father  had  re-sold  the  Marshal  to  Major  Bower. 
He  thought  that  if  either  had  been  parted  with  it  should  have  been 
Albion.  It  proved  fortunate,  however,  for  the  Booth  herd  that  Albion 
was  retained ;  for  though  not  so  stylish  as  the  Marshal  in  appearance, 
he  proved  far  superior  to  him  as  a  sire.  Albion  is  said  to  have  done 
more  good  in  the  herd  than  any  other  of  the  earlier  bulls,  notwith- 
standing that  he  had,  through  Washington  (674),  one-sixty-fourth 
part  of  the  Alloy,  which  was  the  term  of  reproach  cast  upon  Lady, 
by  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke,  and  her  descendants  in  the  early  days 
of  Short-horn  breeding.*  The  offspring  of  Albion  were,  in  general, 
very  round,  compact,  and  near  the  ground. 

"  I  must  here,  however,  revert  to  the  Fairholme  calves.  A  slight 
survey  of  the  tribes  which  have  sprung  from  these  early  mothers  of 
the  herd  may  not  be  without  interest  to  some  of  my  readers.  From 
them  proceeded  the  Fairholme  or  Blossom  tribe,  the  old  Red  Rose 
tribe,  and  the  Ariadne  or  Bright  Eyes  tribe. 

"  Of  the  Fairholme  or  Blossom  tribe,  one  branch  terminated  in  the 
bull  Easby  (232).  Another,  which  Mr.  R.  Booth  took  with  him  to 
Studley,  produced  Moss  Rose,  by  Suworrow,  Madame,  by  Marshal 
Beresford,  Fair  Maid,  by  Pilot,  Miss  Foote,  by  Agamemnon  (9),  and 
Young  Sir  Alexander  (513).  A  third  division,  which,  in  the  cow 
Eve  passed  into  the  hands  of  Major  Bower,  has  representatives  in 
the  herd  of  Lord  Feversham — Skyrocket,  tlie  first  prize  bull  at  the 
Royal  show  at  Leeds  in  1861,  being  one  of  them.  Of  a  fourth 
branch — the  descendants  of  Beauty  by  Albion — one  portion  remained 
in  the  hands  of  Mr.  John  Booth,  and  produced  Modish,  sold  to  Mr. 

*  See  page  71  ante,  in  notice  of  Charles  Ceiling's  breeding.— L.  F.  A. 


100  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

R.  Holmes  (who  bred  from  her  Belzoni  (783);  the  other  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Sir  Charles  Knightly,  who  had  at  one  time  several 
representatives  of  it.  From  a  fifth  branch,  retained  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Booth,  sprang  Twin  Cow,  by  Albion,  her  son  Navigator  (1260),  whose 
spirited  portrait  adorns  the  dining-room  at  Warlaby,  and  a  long  array 
of  prize  animals,  amongst  which  may  be  mentioned  Bloom,  Plum 
Blossom,  Nectarine  Blossom,  Venus  Victrix,  Baron  Warlaby,  and 
Windsor. 

"  The  old  Red  Rose  *  tribe  is  extinct,  except  in  the  progeny  of 
Julius  Caesar  (1143)  and  Belshazzar  (1703). 

"  From  the  Bright  Eyes  tribe,  in  the  possession  of  R.  Booth,  at 
Studley,  came  Ariadne,  the  prize  cow  Anna,  by  Pilot,  and  many  other 
fine  animals  dispersed  at  the  Studley  sale. 

"  Besides  these  Fairholme  tribes,  there  was  the  Halnaby  or  Straw- 
berry tribe,  which  also  dates  from  this  period.  The  first  of  M:hem 
was  of  that  yellow  red  and  white  hue,  which,  though  out  of  favor  at 
the  present  day,  was  then  the  prevailing  color  of  the  Short-horn. f  She 
was  bought  in  Darlington  market,  and  one  of  the  earliest  recollec- 
tions of  Mr.  R.  Booth  was  of  that  cow  coming  home.  The  type  of 
old  Halnaby  of  1797,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  very  finely  made 
cow,  has  often  been  reproduced  in  her  descendants  in  the  herd.  Mr. 
Thomas  Booth  considered  this  as  one  of  his  finest  families,  quite 
equal  to  the  Blossom  and  the  Ariadne  tribes.  Young  Albion  (15)  is 
the  first  bull  of  note  in  the  Halnaby  family.  He  was  much  used  in 
the  herd,  and  was  one  of  the  first  that  was  let  out  on  hire.  He  went 
to  Mr.  Scroope's,  of  Danby  Hall,  near  Middleham,  who  had  a  fine, 
large,  robust  herd  of  cattle,  related,  through  some  of  the  bulls  used, 
to  the  Colling  blood.  In  1812,  the  Squire  of  Danby  challenged  Mr. 
Thomas  Booth  to  show,  '  for  rump  and  dozen '  (the  usual  stakes  at 
that  day  being  rump  stakes  and  a  dozen  of  wine),  the  best  lot  of 
heifers  he  had,  against  the  same  number  of  his  own,  the  match  to  be 
decided  at  Bedale.  Although  a  good  lot,  the  Danby  had  to  give 
place  to  the  Killerby  and  Warlaby  contingent.  Of  the  Halnaby 
tribe  came  also  the  bull  Rockingham  (2551),  and  Priam  (2452),  the 
latter,  sire  of  Necklace  and  Bracelet.  The  only  female  representa- 
tives of  the  family  are  in  the  hands  of  the  present  Mr.  Booth,  of 
Warlaby.  From  Strawberry  3d  came  the  Bianca  and  Bride  Elect 
branch ;  whilst  the  famous  cow  White  Strawberry,  the  dam  of  Leon- 
ard (4210),  was  the  ancestress  of  Monk,  Medora,  Red  Rose,  and 

*  Not  the  Red  Rose  tribe  of  Robert  Colling.— L.  F.  A.      ' 

t  Roans,  and  whites,  are  still  the  prevailing  colors  of  the  Booth  Short-horns. — L.  F.  A. 


THE    BOOTH    HERDS.  IOI 

her  daughters,  the  queenly  quartette.  Young  Matchem  (4422)  is 
descended  from  White  Rose,  own  sister  of  Young  Albion,  and  there- 
fore, on  the  dam's  side,  of  the  Halnaby  family,  and  the  same  branch 
of  it  gives  the  dam,  Young  Rachel,  of  Mr.  Ambler's  Grand  Turk. 

"  The  Bracelet  tribe  sprung  from  a  cow  by  Suworrow,  of  whose 
origin  there  is  no  record.  She  was  the  ancestress  of  a  very  superior 
cow,  calved  in  1812,  Countess,  by  Albion  (14),  the  Alloy  bull;  also 
of  Toy,  and  her  twin  daughters  Necklace -and  Bracelet,  and  of  Col. 
Towneley's  Pearly,  and  Mr.  Torr's  Young  Bracelet  tribe. 

"  The  early  representatives  of  the  above  mentioned  tribes  formed 
the  herd  of  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  down  to  the  year  1814,  when  (his 
son)  Mr.  Richard  Booth,  taking  the  Studley  farm,  near  Ripon,  left 
Killerby.  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  was  at  that  time  the  most  enterprising 
and  skillful  improver  of  cattle  in  his  district,  if  not  of  his  day.*  It 
is  said  there  were  some  cows  in  Mr.  Thomas  Booth's  herd  of  that 
period  as  good  as  any  herd  "of  the  present  time  can  boast ;  though, 
being  bred  for  use  rather  than  show,  the  generality  of  them  were 
wanting  in  the  refinement  of  the  modern  Short-horn.  At  that  period 
there  were,  happily,  no  shows  to  demand  the  sacrifice  of  the  best 
cattle  in  the  kingdom,  or  the  few  that  were  held  could  be  reached  by 
the  majority  of  cattle  attending  them  only  by  such  long  journeys  on 
foot  as  would  be  impracticable  by  animals  in  such  a  state  of  obesity 
as  is  now  a  sine  qua  non  with  the  judicial  triumvirate.  High  feeding 
at  that  time  meant  no  more  than  good  pasture  for  cows  early  dried  of 
their  milk  j  and  the  term  *  training '  was  never  heard  except  in  rela- 
tion to  horses.  The  first  breeder  who  introduced  the  system,  which 
has  since  run  into  such  ruinous  excess,  of  house-feeding  cows  and 
heifers  in  summer  on  artificial  food,  was  Mr.  Crofton ;  and  in  that 
year  he,  of  course,  took  all  before  him  in  the  show  yards.  The  gen- 
eral treatment  of  the  females  of  a  herd  at  that  day  was  a  simple  hay 
diet  during  the  winter  months.  They  were  put  early  to  breeding, 
and  generally  calved  at  two  years  old.  A  few  were  taken  from  the 
lot  to  milk.  The  remainder  suckled  their  calves  until  winter.  They 
were  then  taken  up,  dried,  and  fed  off  by  the  time  they  were  three 
years  old ;  the  same  course  being  pursued,  in  their  turn,  with  their 
progeny. 

"  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  was  as  liberal  as  his  successors  in  allowing 
the  free  use  of  his  bulls  to  his  poor  neighbors ;  and,  like  most  public 
benefactors,  was  occasionally  imposed  upon.  A  ludicrous  instance 

*  Rather  too  laudatory,  we  think. — L.  F.  A. 


102  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

of  this  is  still  remembered.  An  old  fellow  at  Ainderby,  not  contented 
with  the  bull  set  apart  for  this  purpose,  and  being  anxious  to  have  a 
calf  by  another,  that  Mr.  Booth  especially  prized  and  kept  exclu- 
sively for  his  own  herd,  took  his  cow  into  the  lane  adjoining  the  field 
where  the  prohibited  animal  was  grazing.  The  bull  broke  through 
the  fence ;  and — the  old  Yorkshireman's  object  was  achieved.  The 
latter,  knowing  how  indignant  Mr.  Booth  would  be,  thought  it  safest 
to  act  on  the  principle  of  taking  the  bull  by  the  horns ;  and,  assum- 
ing an  injured  air,  at  once  repaired  to  him,  exclaiming,  'O  maister, 
maister !  sic  an  a  thing  has  happened !  Your  gurt  ugly  beast  has 
broken  through  t'hedge,  and  I  doubt  he'll  hae  gitten  my  cow  wi'  cauf. 
It's  a  sad  bad  job  ;  for  I  were  boun'  to  feed  her  off.' 

"  Mr.  Richard  Booth's  removal  to  Studley  forms  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  these  herds.  From  1814  down  to  its  dispersion  in  1834, 
the  Studley  colony  took  precedence  of  the  parent  stock.  We  may 
now,  therefore,  before  proceeding  with  the  history  of  the  Killerby 
Herd,  turn  our  attention  to  that  of  Studley. 

THE  STUDLEY  HERD. 

"  Mr.  Richard  Booth  inherited  with  his  father's  name  his  full  share 
of  his  father's  skill  as  a  breeder,  with  an  equal  fondness  for  the  pur- 
suit; and  his  new  farm,  which  he  held  under  the  wealthy  and 
well-known  Mrs.  Lawrence,*  was  speedily  stocked  with  superior  Short- 
horns. He  began  with  his  father's  cattle,  and  carried  on  to  even 
greater  perfection  his  father's  work.  Among  the  first  importations 
which  were  made  from  Killerby  to  Studley,  when  Mr.  Richard  Booth 
went  there  in  i8r^,  the  following  may  be  mentioned :  He  purchased 
from  his  father  Bright  Eyes,  by  Lame  bull  (359),  and  her  daughters 
Ariadne,  then  a  two-year-old,  and  Agnes,  a  yearling,  both  by  Albion. 
Ariadne  was  own  sister  to  Agamemnon,  the  grandsire  of  Isabella,  by 
Pilot.  She  was  the  dam  of  the  famous  Anna,  by  Pilot  (496),  who 
won  numerous  prizes  at  the  best  shows  of  the  day;  and  who,  in  1824, 
performed  the  feat  of  walking  from  Studley  to  Manchester,  taking 
the  first  prize  there,  walking  back,  and  producing  within  a  fortnight 
Young  Anna.  Anna  is  said,  by  those  who  well  remember  her,  to 
have  borne  a  very  strong  resemblance  in  color  and  character  to  Queen 
of  the  Ocean.  She  was  the  dam  of  Adelaide,  who,  through  her  sire 
Albert,  was  also  granddaughter  of  Isabella.  Adelaide  was  the  highest 

*  Previously  alluded  to  in  a  letter  to  the  writer,  by  R.  L.  Allen. — L.  F.  A. 


THE    STUDLEY    HERD.  103 

priced  female  sold  at  Mr.  R.  Booth's  Studley  sale  in  1834,  and  was 
the  granddam  of  Mr.  Storer's  cow  Princess  Julia.  From  Anna,  more 
remotely  through  her  daughter,  Young  Anna,  are  descended  two  of 
Mr.  Torr's  families ;  and  from  Agnes,  daughter  of  Bright  Eyes,  came 
Mr.  Fawkes'  Verbena  and  her  descendants.  Agamemnon,  the  own 
brother  of  Ariadne,  was  a  bull  of  extraordinary  substance,  with  good 
hind  quarters,  heavy  flanks,  deep  twist,  and  well  covered  hips.  He 
was  eventually  sold,  with  two  heifers,  to  Mr.  White,  of  Woodlands, 
near  Dublin.  Even  in  these  early  days  Mr.  Booth  had  bulls  out  on 
hire.  Alonzo  (27),  a  son  of  Ariadne,  by  Rockingham  (559),  was  let 
to  Mr.  Hutton,  of  Marske,  who,  to  promote  the  improvement  of  the 
breed  of  cattle  in  his  district,  had  at  that  time  yearly  shows  on  his 
estate.  Protector  (1347),  another  bull  of  the  Bright  Eyes  family,  was 
hired  by  Mr.  Powlett,  of  Bolton  Hall.  He  was  a  large,  red  bull,  and 
a  capital  sire. 

"  In  the  first  year  of  his  residence  at  Studley,  Mr.  R.  Booth  bought 
in  Darlington  market*  the  first  of  what  was  afterwards  known  as  the 
Isabella  tribe.  She  was  a  roan  cow,  by  Mr.  Burrell's  bull  of  Burdon 
(1768),  and,  for  a  market  cow,  had  a  remarkably  ample  development 
of  the  fore  quarters.  She  was  put  to  Agamemnon.  The  offspring 
was  'White  Cow,' which,  crossed  by  Pilot,  produced  the  matchless 
Isabella,  so  long  remembered  in  show-field  annals,  and  to  this  day 
quoted  as  a  perfect  specimen  of  her  race.  Pedestrians  crossing  the 
fields  to  the  ruins  of  Fountains  Abbey  might  generally  see  her  and 
Anna,  perhaps  the  two  best  cows  of  their  day,  with  a  blooming  bevy 
of  fair  heifers,  attended  by  Young  Albion  (15);  and  many  a  traveler 
lingered  on  his  way  to  admire  their  buxom  forms,  picturing  to  himself 
perhaps  how  the  monks  of  the  old  abbey  would  have  gloried  in  such 
beeves." 

It  was  from  this  estate  that  the  name  of  "  Studley  bull "  was  given 
to  the  noble  animal,  calved  in  1737,  through  whose  loins  a  larger 
number  of  the  noted  older  Short-horns  trace  their  lineage  than  to  any 
other.  His  Herd  Book  pedigree  only  states  that  he  was  "  red  and 
white,  bred  by  Mr.  Sharter,  of  Chilton."  In  a  note  to  that  pedigree, 

*  It  is  a  pregnant  fact,  as  the  fashion  of  the  day  then  was,  before  a  Herd  Book,  recording  the 
pedigrees  of  Short-horns  was  established,  or  perhaps  even  thought  of,  and  even  to  a  much  later 
time,  that  the  breeders  and  farmers  of  the  Short-horn  counties  sent  many  of  their  valuable  sur- 
plus animals  to  the  local  fairs  for  sale.  They  had  no  written  pedigrees,  yet  their  breeders  had 
access  to  and  used  in  their  herds  the  pure  bred  bulls  of  leading  breeders  for  some  cattle  genera- 
tions back.  They  were  Short-horns,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  and  probably  as  pure  in  blood 
as  any  to  be  found.  Not  only  the  Booths,  but  other  discriminating  breeders  purchased  them,  and 
in  their  produce  many  noted  animals  have  risen  to  well-merited  distinction. — L.  F.  A. 


104  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

written  by  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  Bates,  he  remarks  that  "  he  was  of 
the  Barningham  breed,  which  came  from  Studley,  where  they  were 
bred  for  many  generations."  So  that  the  ancient  domain  of  Studley, 
as  with  Alnwick  Castle,  "home  of  the  Percy's  high-born  race  "  of  men, 
was  equally  a  home  of  the  high-born  race  of  Short-horn  cattle. 

"  Isabella  and  her  descendants  brought  the  massive  yet  exquisitely 
moulded  fore  quarters  into  the  herd,  and  also  that  straight  under-line 
of  the  belly,  for  which  the  Warlaby  animals  are  remarkable.  That 
such  a  cow  should  have  had  but  three  crosses  of  blood  is  striking 
evidence  of  the  impressive  efficacy  of  these  early  bulls,  and  confirms 
Mr.  R.  Booth's  opinion  that  four  crosses  of  really  first-rate  bulls  of 
sterling  blood  upon  a  good  market  cow,  of  the  ordinary  Short-horn  breed, 
should  suffice  for  the  production  of  an  animal  with  all  the  character- 
istics of  the  high-caste  Short-horn."* 

"'White  Cow,'  by  Agamemnon,  produced,  besides  the  famous  Isa- 
bella, 'Own  Sister  to  Isabella,'  and  Lady  Sarah,  and  was  then  sold  to 
Mr.  Paley,  of  Gledhow.  Her  dam,  the  Darlington  cow,  had  previ- 
ously been  disposed  of  to  the  master  of  a  boarding-school  at  Ripon, 
one  of  whose  pupils,  Mr.  Bruere,  of  Braithwaite  Hall — a  highly 
esteemed  friend  of  the  late  Mr.  Booth's — well  remembers  the  brim- 
ming pails  of  milk  she  gave.  '  Own  Sister  to  Isabella '  was  the  dam 
of  Blossom,  by  Memnon  (2295)  (a  son  of  Julius  Csesar  and  Straw- 
berry, by  Pilot),  and  Blossom  was  the  dam  of  Medora,  by  Ambo 
(1636),  one  of  the  neatest  cows  Mr.  Booth  ever  bred.  Medora  was 
sold  to  Mr.  Fawkes,  in  whose  hands  she  was  the  progenitress  of  his 
Gulnare,  Haidee,  Zuleika,  and  others.  Mr.  Fawkes'  Lord  Marquis, 
the  first  prize  three-year-old  bull  at  the  Royal  Show  at  Lewes,  in 
1852,  and  the  Yorkshire  Show  at  Sheffield,  in  the  same  year,  was  also 
a  descendant  of  Medora's. 

"'A  gentleman,'  says  the  writer  of  'Short-horn  Intelligence,'  'who 
has  been  intimately  conversant  with  the  herds  of  Great  Britain  for  at 
least  a  quarter  of  a  century,  declares  that  one  of  the  most  interesting 
sights  he  ever  saw  at  an  agricultural  exhibition  was  on  the  show 
ground  at  Otley,  some  years  ago,  when,  after  the  judging,  the  famous 
Booth  cow  Medora,  by  Ambo,  was  led  round  the  ring,  followed  by  her 
six  daughters,  all  of  them,  as  well  as  the  mother,  decorated  with  prize 
lavors.  The  daughters  were  Gulnare,  Haidee,  and  Zuleika  (by  Nor- 
folk) (2377);  Victoria,  and  Fair  Maid  of  Athens  (by  Sir  Thomas 

*  The  American  breeder  must  understand  that  "  the  ordinary  Short-horn  breed"  named  above, 
were  true  Short-horns,  but  without  Herd  Hook  pedigrees,  and  not  the  common  cattle  of  the  coun- 
try, like  ours. — L.  F.  A. 


THE    STUDLEY    HERD.  IO5 

Fairfax)  (5196) ;  and  a  heifer  named  Myrrha,  not  in  the  Herd  Book, 
under  that  name  at  least,  by  Rockingham  (2550).' 

"  Blossom  was  bought  by  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  at  the  Studley  sale 
in  1834,  and,  after  breeding  four  calves,  was  slaughtered  in  1840. 
Own  Sister  to  Isabella,  also  had  Imogen,  by  Argus  (750),  which  was 
sold  at  the  Studley  sale  to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  and  became  the  dam 
of  Isabel,  by  Belshazzar  (1703).  This  Belshazzar  (1703),*  who  was 
contemporary  with  Mr.  Booth's  Belshazzar  of  the  old  Red  Rose 
tribe,  was  from  Lady  Sarah,  the  third  sister  of  Isabella,  by  Pilot. 
Lady  Sarah  became  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  and  pro- 
duced at  Castle  Howard  three  bulls  and  four  heifers,  one  of  which 
was  the  dam  of  Lord  Stanley  (4269),  purchased  by  Messrs.  Booth  and 
Maynard. 

"Isabella,  by  Pilot,  now  the  best  known  to  fame  of  the  three 
sisters,  produced,  at  Studley,  Isaac  (1129),  by  Young  Albion  (15), 
Albert  (727)  by  the  same  bull,  Isabella,  sold  to  Mr.  Bolden,  Young 
Isabella  to  Mr.  Paley,  and  Belinda  to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  and  four 
others ;  and  on  the  sale  of  the  Studley  herd  she  alone  was  retained, 
and  transferred  to  Warlaby,  where  she  gave  birth,  in  her  eighteenth 
year,  to  Isabella  Matchem,  afterwards  the  dam,  as  will  be  seen,  of  a 
numerous  progeny.  The  demand  for  bulls  was  then  only  commenc- 
ing. Isaac  had  been  let  for  a  year  to  Miss  Strickland,  of  Apperley 
Court,  and  on  his  return,  Mr.  Booth  not  requiring  him,  he  was  unfor- 
tunately fed  to  make  room  for  younger  ones,  before  his  eminent  merits 
as  a  sire  had  been  discovered.  The  Isabellas  had  all  great  capacity  for 
rapidly  acquiring  ripe  condition  on  pasture.  As  an  illustration  of  the 
fallaciousness  of  the  usual  mode  of  judging  cattle  by  the  softness  of 
their  flesh,  it  may  be  worthy  of  mention  that  at  one  of  the' Yorkshire 
agricultural  meetings  held  at  Northallerton,  a  grass-fed  heifer,  a 
daughter  of  Isabella,  by  Ambo,  was  shown,  and  rejected  as  being 
too  hard-fleshed.  Not  breeding,  she  was  slaughtered  at  York  for 
Christmas  beef.  Her  two  successful  rivals  also  failing  to  breed  were 
slaughtered,  and  the  palm  for  the  best  carcass  of  beef  was  awarded 
to  Mr.  Booth's  heifer  over  her  Northallerton  rivals.  Nor  is  this  case 
without  many  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  Royal  Shows.  Numerous 
as  have  been  the  prizes  which  the  Booth  cattle  have  received,  their 
number  would  have  been  greatly  increased  if  judges  had  always  care- 
fully distinguished  between  flesh  and  fat.  When  their  decisions  have 

*  This  must  be  a  mistake  of  Mr.  Carr's.  The  English  Herd  Book,  Vol.  3,  records  Belshazzar 
(1704)  as  the  Son  of  Lady  Sarah.  Mr.  Booth  bred  (1703),  and  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  bred  (1704). — 
L.  F.  A. 


106  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

been  on  this  ground — as  they  often  have  been — adverse  to  the  Booth 
cattle,  many  an  experienced  butcher  has  proclaimed  a  very  different 
opinion ;  and  could  the  appeal  ad  crumenam  have  been  adopted  by 
an  immediate  sale  of  the  rival  animals  to  the  shambles,  how  useless 
would  it  have  been  in  most  instances  to  contest  the  supremacy  of 
the  Booths ! 

"Another  cow  which  Mr.  Booth  took  with  him  to  Studley  was 
Madame,  by  Marshal  Beresford,  also  of  the  Fairholme  Blossom  tribe. 
From  her  came  Fancy  and  Fair  Maid,  both  by  Agamemnon.  The 
former  was  the  dam  of  Fatima,  a  very  neat,  middle-sized  cow,  which, 
put  to  Mr.  Maynard's  Sir  Alexander  (591),  produced  the  famous  bull 
Young  Sir  Alexander  (5139).  This  bull  was  the  sire  of  Strawberry, 
whose  daughter,  White  Strawberry,  by  Rockingham  (559),  held,  per- 
haps, equal  rank  in  Mr.  Booth's  estimation  with  Anna,  Isabella,  and 
her  own  contemporary  rivals,  Necklace  and  Bracelet.  Fair  Maid, 
the  other  daughter  of  Madame,  by  Marshal  Beresford,  was  the  dam 
of  Miss  Foote,  whose  descendants  were  very  numerous,  and  were  all 
disposed  of  at,  or  previously  to,  the  Studley  sale.  They  united  in  a 
remarkable  degree  the  two  properties  of  good  milking  and  rapid 
fattening.  Fair  Maid  herself  was  sold  to  Mr.  Ellison,  of  Sizergh, 
where  she  bred  many  calves,  and  proved  herself  an  excellent  dairy 
cow.  Miss  Foote  was  sold  to  Captain  Shawe,  and  Fair  Helen,  her 
daughter,  who  was  the  dam  of  the  noted  bull  Cossack  (1880),  to  Sir 
Charles  Tempest,  with  whom  she  bred  four  heifers.  I  remember,  in 
1853,  a  stray  waif  of  this  famous  tribe  in  the  hands  of  an  inn-keeper, 
at  Clapham,  in  Yorkshire.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  broad,  level  back,  and 
symmetrical  proportions  of  this  cow,  that  induced  me  to  purchase  my 
first  Short-horn,  her  bull  calf.  The  cow  was  a  granddaughter  of 
Miss  Foote,  being  a  daughter  of  Lady  Helen,  then  the  property  of 
Mr.  Foster,  of  Clapham.  She  was  sacrificed  whilst  still  in  her  prime, 
her  owner  being  tempted  by  the  offer  of  a  high  price  for  her  from  a 
butcher. 

"  Some  mention  of  the  bulls  bred  and  used  by  Mr.  Booth  during 
his  residence  at  Studley  seems  here  to  be  required. 

"  One  of  the  first  bulls  of  superior  mark  bred  by  Mr.  Richard 
Booth,  after  his  removal  to  Studley,  was  Julius  Caesar  (1143),  a  bull 
of  very  symmetrical  proportions,  which  he  had  the  merit  of  impress- 
ing in  a  surprising  degree  upon  his  offspring.  No  matter  how 
dissimilar  and  opposite  in  form  and  breed  the  cows  to  which  he  was 
put  might  be,  the  produce  all  bore  the  unmistakable  stamp  of  their 
sire.  The  offspring,  by  him,  of  the  shabbiest  lane-side  cow,  had,  it 


THE    STUDLEY    HERD.  IO/ 

is  said,  all  the  character  of  the  pure-bred  Short-horn.  It  may  be 
worth  while  to  inquire  how  far  the  remarkable  property  which  distin- 
guished this  bull  may  be  traced  to  the  preponderating  influence  of 
any  particular  progenitor  or  progenitors  in  his  pedigrees,  an  investi- 
gation of  which,  it  may  be  here  sufficient  to  say,  will  show  him  to  be 
descended  half  a  dozen  times,  and  some  of  them  very  nearly,  from 
Twin  Brother  to  Ben. 

"  This  circumstance  lends  weight  to  the  opinion  of  many  experi- 
enced breeders,  that,  in  general,  the  capability  of  a  bull  to  transmit 
to  his  offspring  his  own  peculiar  mould  and  properties  depends  upon 
his  having  inherited  them  from  a  succession  of  ancestors  endowed 
with  similar  characteristics.  It  is  doubtless  to  the  concentration  of 
hereditary  force  thus  derived  that  the  extraordinary  transmissive 
power  of  such  bulls  as  Comet,  Favorite  and  Julius  Caesar,  is  to  be 
attributed.  At  the  same  time  it  is  a  curious  circumstance,  and  one 
that  should  not  be  forgotten — as  often  modifying  to  some  extent  the 
principle  above  enunciated — that  amongst  animals  similarly  bred  there 
are  some  bulls,  and  some  cows  too,  that  possess  an  immeasurably  greater 
transmissive  influence  than  pertains  to  others. 

"  Pilot  (496),  another  of  the  bulls  of  this  period,  was  bred  by  Mr. 
R.  Colling,  and  purchased  by  Mr.  T.  Booth  at  the  Barmpton  sale  in 
1818,  for  270  guineas.  He  was  used  in  all  the  three  herds,  and  there 
was  no  bull  to  which  they  were  more  largely  indebted.  The  close 
in-and-in  breeding  of  this  animal  has  already  been  shown.  He  was 
let  to  Mr.  Rennie  for  a  short  time ;  but  his  stock  at  home  proved  so 
good,  that  he  was  recalled  at  the  expiration  of  his  first  season.  Pilot 
was  a  small,  compact  bull,  somewhat  undersized,  but  possessed  of 
great  thriving  propensity.  He  was  a  capital  sire,  and  may  be  appro- 
priately cited  as  a  striking  example  of  the  preceding  remarks.  I  am 
indebted  for  this  account  of  Pilot  to  one  who  remembers  him  well — 
that  old  friend  of  the  Booths,  the  much  respected  Nestor  of  the  Short- 
horns, Mr.  Wetherell,  who,  like  his  friend  Mr.  Wiley,  of  Brandsby,  is 
still  hale  and  strong,  a  living  record  of  early  Short-horn  times,  from 
whom  younger  men  learn  the  lessons  of  the  past.*  Isaac,  another 
bull  of  note,  bred  by  Mr.  Richard  Booth,  has  already  been  referred 
to.  Burley  (1766)  and  Ambo  (1636),  both  containing  a  large  amount 
of  the  Favorite  blood,  were  partially  used  in  the  herd  during  the  last 
three  years  before  the  sale. 

"  In  the  year  1834  Mr.  Richard  Booth,  finding  that  some  of  his  best 
pastures  were  required  by  their  owner  for  other  purposes,  gave  up  the 

*  Mr.  Wetherell  died  in  February,  1871.— L.  F.  A. 


108  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

farm  at  Studley,  and  selling  off  the  whole  of  his  herd,  with  the 
exception  of  Isabella,  by  Pilot,  retired  to  Sharrow,  near  Ripon. 
After  residing  there  for  a  year,  which,  from  being  bereft  of  his 
favorites,  he  used  to  describe  as  the  least  happy  period  of  his  life, 
Mr.  R.  Booth,  in  consequence  of  his  father's  death,  succeeded  to  the 
estate  and  Short-horn  herd  of  Warlaby.  The  sale  of  the  Studley 
herd  was  a  step  which  Mr.  Booth  always  regretted,  for  many  of  the 
animals  it  contained  were,  in  his  opinion,  every  whit  as  good  as  any 
he  afterwards  bred.  They  were  dispersed  into  many  hands,  and 
though  Old  Cuddy's*  assertion,  that  they  have  'a' swealed  away,' is 
certainly  too  sweeping,  it  may  be  doubted  whether,  even  in  the  hands 
of  very  celebrated  breeders,  like  Mr.  Fawkes  and  others,  the  descend- 
ants of  these  famous  cattle  have  ever  quite  equaled  their  cousins  at 
Warlaby. 

"  It  is  now  necessary  to  go  back  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  resume 
the  history  of 

THE  KILLERBY  HERD. 

"We  have  seen  that  in  the  year  1814,  Mr.  Richard  Booth  took 
with  him  to  Studley  some  of  the  animals  then  forming  the  Killerby 
herd.  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  shortly  afterwards  supplied  the  place  of 
these  with  other  cows,  which  became  the  foundresses  of  three  famous 
tribes — the  Farewell  tribe,  from  which  sprang  Faith,  Hope,  and 
Charity ;  the  Broughton  tribe,  from  whence  came  Bliss,  Blithe,  and 
Bonnet;  and  the  Dairymaid,  or  Moss  Rose  tribe,  from  which  are 
descended  Vivandiere,  Camp  Follower,  and  Soldier's  Bride.  The 
first  of  the  Farewell  tribe  came  from  Darlington;  the  first  of  the 
Broughton  tribe  from  a  dairy  farmer  in  a  village  of  that  name,  who 
had  some  good  cattle,  but,  pedigrees  being  slightly  valued  in  those 
days  by  the  tenant-farmer  class,  nothing  further  is  known  about  them,  f 
The  first  of  the  Dairymaid  tribe  came  from  an  equally  good  stock  in 
the  village  of  Scorton. 

"In  the  year  1819,  on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  J.  Booth's  marriage,  Mr. 
T.  Booth  removed  to  Warlaby,  giving  up  to  his  son,  Mr.  J.  Booth, 
the  Killerby  estate  and  a  part  of  the  Short-horn  herd,  and  taking  the 
remainder  with  him.  A  portion  of  the  Fairholme  or  Blossom  tribe, 
and  of  the  Old  Red  Rose  tribe,  were  removed  to  Warlaby,  the 

*  Mr.  Booth's  herdsman.— L.  F.  A. 

t  A  fact  like  this  may  explain  the  want  of  pedigrees  to  the  Kentucky  importation  of  ShorJ- 
horns  to  America  in  the  year  1817,  only  three  years  later  than  1814. — L.  F.  A. 


THE    KILLERBY    HERD. 

remainder  being  left  with  Mr.  John  Booth.  The  Halnaby  family 
was  also  divided,  but  the  famous  Bracelet  tribe  was  all  left  at  Killerby. 
From  this  period  down  to  the  year  1835,  when  Mr.  R.  Booth  suc- 
ceeded to  his  father's  herd  at  Warlaby,  there  is  comparatively  little 
known  of  the  two  herds.  The  times  were  unpropitious  for  the  Short- 
horn. The  spirit  of  improvement  which  the  example  of  the  Ceilings 
had  evoked  only  partially  survived.  There  was  a  general  depression 
in  all  agricultural  produce,  and  consequently  but  little  demand  for 
animals,  the  purchase  of  which  appeared  at  that  time  to  partake  so 
much  of  the  nature  of  a  speculation.  Not  yet  did 

1  Generous  Britons  venerate  the  plow,' 

or  regard  with  respect  bucolic  occupations.  A  man  gained  more 
eclat  by  a  display  of  science  and  judgment  in  going  across  country 
than  in  the  breeding  of  cattle.  In  some  districts,  a  gentleman  almost 
lost  caste  by  devoting  himself  to  such  ignoble  pursuits,  and  was  sar- 
castically dubbed,  by  his  companions  in  the  pink,  'cow-scratcher.'* 

"But  though  'fallen  on  evil  days,'  the  stock  at  Killerby  was  of 
high  character,  and  was  frequently  resorted  to  by  the  few  good  breed- 
ers of  that  period  for  the  purchase  of  animals.  It  is  a  house  where 
all  comers  were,  and  still  are,  regaled  with  the  welcome  of  the  olden 
times.  Killerby  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  of  the  pleasant  homes  of 
England.  It  is  a  substantial,  square,  manor-house,  picturesquely 
situated  on  #  gentle  eminence  to  the  south  of  the  river  Swale,  and 
two  miles  from  Catterick,  the  site  of  the  once  important  Roman 
camp  and  city  of  Cataractonium.  The  house  occupies  the  site  of 
the  ancient  castle  of  Killerby,  once  a  stronghold  of  great  magnitude, 
founded  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First  by  Sir  Brian  Fitzalan,  Earl 
of  Arundel.  It  is  approached  by  a  road  winding  through  verdant 
pastures  thrown  together  into  the  form  of  a  park,  adorned  here  and 
there  with  noble  elm  and  walnut  trees.  The  estate  consists  of  about 
500  acres  of  arable  and  pasture  land.  The  soil,  which  is  very  mixed — 
gravel,  strong  clay,  marl,  and  peat  being  sometimes  found  in  the  sarne 
field — is  more  adapted  for  sheep  than  heavy  cattle,  though  there  are 
two  or  three  excellent  pastures.  Several  of  the  inferior  grass  fields 
have  been  plowed  up  of  late,  and  heavy  crops  of  oats  and  turnips 
grown  in  their  place,  which  has  allowed  the  number  of  sheep  kept  to 
be  greatly  increased.  Although  half-bred  sheep  are  occasionally  seen 

*  It  will  be  seen  that  there  were  ebbs  and  flows  in  the  demand  for  Short-horns  in  those  days, — 
most  mistakenly  for  the  interests  of  the  stock  breeding  public, — as  there  have  been  since. — 
L.  F.  A. 


c 


110  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

on  the  farm  for  summer  grazing,  the  staple  stock  are  pure  Leicesters, 
for  the  wool  of  which  Mr.  J.  B.  Booth,  the  present  owner,  has  gained 
several  prizes  at  the  Yorkshire  shows. 

"  The  late  Mr.  John  Booth,  of  Killerby,  was  known  and  beloved 
throughout  the  county  as  a  strikingly  genial  example  of  the  \vorthy 
and  hospitable  northern  agriculturist,  ever  devoting  himself  to  the 
service  of  his  friends  (and  he  had  many)  to  the  advancement  of 
agricultural  improvement.  The  humblest,  equally  with  the  most 
important,  agricultural  societies  might  always  rely  on  his  good  offices, 
whether  as  patron  or  judge,  in  which  latter  capacity  being  confessedly 
unrivaled,  he  was  in  great  request,  and  would  most  good  naturedly 
consent  to  officiate,  though  his  doing  so  involved  the  exclusion  of 
his  own  cattle  from  competition.  As  might  have  been  expected, 
from  his  fine  and  manly  character,  he  was  also  a  keen  sportsman ; 
like  Chaucer's  squire, 

'  Well  could  he  sitte  a  horse  and  faire  y-ride  ;' 

and  Yorkshire,  that  modern  Thessaly  of  horsemen,  knew  no  more 
thorough  judge  of  hack  or  hunter.  Has  skill  in  this  respect  still 
survives  in  his  sons ;  many  a  field  and  many  a  showyard  testify  that 
in  this  regard,  as  in  others,  Killerby  has  not  degenerated  from  its 
ancient  fame.  He  had,  too,  a  natural  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  and 
when  from  illness  he  could  not  go  far  from  home,  he  had  his  horses 
led  out,  and  would  sit  on  the  lawn,  or  in  the  hall,  to  paint  them. 
Here,  too,  his  taste  survives,  and  if  I  touch  lightly  on  the  subject  it. 
is  because  more  delicate  fingers  now  hold  the  brush,  and  I  would 
not  trespass  unbidden  upon  the  elegant  recreations  of  Killerby 's  fair 
Mistress. 

"When,  on  the  establishment  of  the  national  shows  in  1839,  the 
superiority  of  the  Killerby  Short-horns  had  been  proved  in  contest 
with  the  best  animals  of  the  day,  the  herd  attracted  many  visitors, 
and  its  inspection  was  as  free  to  all  classes  as  were  the  fruits  of  its 
owner's  experience  in  breeding,  which  he  was  ever  ready  to  commu- 
nicate to  the  neophyte.  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  present 
fair  enthusiasts  in  Short-horn  matters  to  learn,  that  in  the  absence  of 
her  husband,  the  late  Mrs.  Booth — a  lady  who  will  long  be  remem- 
bered in  that  neighborhood  for  her  benevolent  disposition  and 
engaging  manners — would  herself  most  affably  do  the  honors  of  the 
herd,  leading  the  way  to  her  especial  favorites,  and  expatiating  on 
their  pedigrees,  points,  and  perfections,  sometimes  with  a  dash  of 
arch  humor,  and  always  with  the  grace  and  delicacy  of  the  thorough- 


10 


! 

PH     p 

^_t         i> 

M    I 


O 


M 
o 


THE    KILLERBY    HERD.  Ill 

bred  lady  that  she  was.  Mrs.  Booth's  sister,  Miss  Wright,  had  an 
equally  keen  appreciation  of  the  merits  of  a  good  Short-horn,  and 
would  stop  any  one  of  kindred  tastes,  who  happened  to  be  passing 
through  Cleasby,  to  have  a  chat  on  her  favorite  topic,  or  to  lead  them 
to  the  Garth  (since  known  by  his  name),  where  in  the  fullness  of  his 
days  and  honors  repose  the  remains  of  Comet  (155)."* 

At  Killerby  the  herd  was  carefully  bred,  and  many  fine  animals 
reared,  which  are  duly  mentioned  and  exalted  as  prize-takers  at  the 
shows,  truly,  no  doubt,  by  Mr.  Carr,  but  which  we  have  not  space  to 
record — all  being  represented  in  the  volumes  of  the  English  Herd 
Books  of  the  times.  Among  the  cows,  very  deep  milkers  are  occa- 
sionally named.  Mr.  Carr  remarks : 

"  It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  John  Booth  was  a  very  frequent 
competitor  in  the  show-fields  until  the  establishment  of  the  Royal 
and  Yorkshire  Shows  in  1839.  Before  this  time  Short-horn  cattle 
were  kept  chiefly  for  dairy  and  grazing  purposes ;  the  majority  of 
the  male  stock  were  steered,  and  many  a  fine  heifer  that  took  the 
butcher's  eye  was  converted  into  Christmas  beef.  Necklace  and 
Bracelet  [twin  heifer  calves  of  Toy,  before  named]  shared  the  pas- 
ture and  the  straw-yard  with  the  ordinary  stock  of  the  farm  until 
nearly  two  years  old.  As  calves  they  never  had  more  milk  than  their 
dam,  who  suckled  them  both,  supplied;  and,  throughout  the  whole 
of  their  victorious  career,  they  derived  their  chief  support  from  the 
pasture,  with  a  daily  feed  of  corn  meal  and  [oil]  cake.  Yet  Bracelet 
won  seventeen  prizes  at  the  various  meetings  of  the  Royal  Agricul- 
tural Society  of  England,  the  Highland  Society  of  Scotland,  the 
Yorkshire  Society,  and  other  local  shows ;  and  at  the  Yorkshire  Show 
in  1841,  where  she  won  the  first  prize  for  extra  stock,  the  sweepstakes 
for  the  best  lot  of  cattle  not  less  than  four  in  number,  was-  awarded 
to  Bracelet,  Necklace,  Mantalini,  and  Ladythorn.  Necklace  won 
sixteen  prizes  and  one  gold  and  three  silver  medals  at  the  various 
meetings  above  mentioned,  as  well  as  at  the  Smithfield  Club,  f  where 
she  finished  her  career  as  a  prize-taker  in  1846,  by  winning  the  first 
prize  of  her  class  and  the  gold  medal  (for  which  there  were  thirty- 
seven  competitors)  as  the  best  animal  exhibited  in  any  of  the  cow  or 
heifer  classes." 

After  relating  at  some  length  the  practice  of  Mr.  Booth's  close 
breeding,  (for  the  brothers  seldom  bred  any  bulls  of  strange  blood 
into  their  herds  after  they  had  become  permanently  established,  unless 

*  Vide  page  75,  ante—  L.  F.  A. 

+  The  Smithfield  Show  at  London,  is  for  fat,  and  not  breeding  animals. — L.  F.  A. 


112  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

to  take  a  single  cross,  and  then  at  once  to  return  to  the  blood  of  their 
own  stock,)  and  the  names  of  sundry  prize  animals  of  the  herd,  Mr. 
Carr  remarks : 

"  It  has  been  asserted  by  <?z><?r-zealous  advocates  of  the  system  of 
close  interbreeding,  that  the  crosses  of  Mussulman,  Lord  Lieutenant, 
Match  em,  and  others,  introduced  scarcely  any  fresh  blood  into  the 
Booth  herds ;  for  inasmuch  as  no  alien  bulls  were  used  but  those 
whose  veins  were  surcharged  with  the  blood  of  Favorite,  the  recourse 
to  them  was  nothing  more  than  a  recurrence  to,  or  renewal  of,  the 
old  family  strain ;  but  this  is  really  only  what  is  true  of  every  well- 
bred  Short-horn  of  the  period,  and  therefore  proves  nothing.  Take 
any  one  of  them,  and  trace  back  the  pedigree  of  each  of  its  progeni- 
tors (whose  numbers  of  course  increase  each  generation  back  in  a 
geometrical  progression),  and  this  bull  Favorite  will  be  found  to  recur 
directly  and  indirectly  a  surprising  number  of  times.  The  following 
elaborate  calculations,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  J.  Storer, 
of  Hellidon,  may  be  quoted  in  illustration  of  this :  Mussulman  is 
64  times  descended  from  Favorite ;  namely,  through  Magnum  Bonum 
30,  through  Pirate  22,  through  Houghton  9,  through  Marshal  Blucher 
3 ;  total,  64  times.  Lord  Lieutenant  was  106  times  descended  from 
Favorite,  and  Matchem  52  times.  Crown  Prince  is  1,055  times 
descended  from  Favorite,  and  Red  Rose  by  Harbinger  1,344  times. 
So  the  produce  of  the  two  are  descended  from  him  2,399  times. 
But  work  out  the  Duchesses  or  any  Short-horns  of  good  blood,  and 
the  result  will  be  found  very  much  the  same.  It  will  not  do,  there- 
fore, to  claim  bulls  as  of  kindred  blood  on  this  ground  only. 
Moreover,  it  must  in  candor  be  admitted  by  the  advocates  of  in-and- 
in  breeding  that  a  careful  consideration  of  the  above  facts  leads  to 
one  unavoidable  conclusion.  Very  strong  in-and-in  breeding  is  a 
totally  different  thing  in  our  case  from  what  it  was  in  the  case  of  the 
earlier  breeders,  the  Collings  and  Mr.  Thomas  Booth — so  different 
that  there  can  be  but  little  analogy  between  the  two  cases.  They 
bred  in-and-in  from  animals  which  had  little  or  no  previous  affinity. 
We  breed  in-and-in  from  animals  full  of  the  same  blood  to  begin 
with.  In  our  case  the  via  media,  and  therefore  the  via  salntis,  would 
seem  to  lie  in  the  adoption  of  two  apparently  opposite  principles — 
in-and-in  breeding,  and  fresh  blood.  It  is  manifest,  however,  that  this 
latter  principle  should  be  acted  upon  with  extreme  caution,  or  to  a 
very  limited  extent,  when  it  is  desirable  to  preserve  and  perpetuate 
the  distinctive  type  of  any  particular  tribe,  especially  when,  as  in  the 
Warlaby  herd,  there  is  no  visible  deterioration  in  symmetry,  sub- 


THE    WARLABY    HERD.  113 

stance,  or  stamina,  or  any  want  of  fertility  traceable  to  in-and-in 
breeding.  Yet  even  in  such  cases  it  is  doubtless  advisable  to  have 
occasional  recourse  to  remote  alliances,  taking  care  to  have  as  many 
removes  as  possible  between  members  of  the  same  family ;  or,  where 
using  bulls  nearly  related  to  the  cows,  giving  preference  to  such  as 
have  been  subjected  to  different  conditions  of  life,  it  being  a  well- 
known  physiological  fact  that  a  change  of  soil  and  climate  effects 
perhaps  almost  as  great  a  change  in  the  constitution  as  would  result 
from  an  infusion  of  other  blood."* 

These  remarks  would,  perhaps,  be  more  in  place  when  on  the  sub- 
ject of  breeding,  but  finding  them  here  in  connection  with  the  Booth 
system,  now  under  discussion,  they  will  be  duly  considered  by  the 
reader. 

In  July,  1852,  the  Killerby  herd  was  sold  at  auction.  The  sale 
was  largely  attended  by  breeders  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  At 
that  time  there  was  an  unusual  depression  in  all  agricultural  values ; 
the  prices  at  which  the  cattle  sold  were  comparatively  low,  and  did 
not  realize  at  all  what  their  several  merits  and  celebrity  demanded. 
Some  of  them  afterwards  changed  hands  and  sold  for  thrice  the 
prices  they  brought  at  the  Booth  sale. 

Mr.  J.  Booth  retained  a  few  choice  cows  from  the  general  sale, 
which  Mr.  Carr  says  were  of  "distinguished  lineage,  and  if  more 
recent  in  their  origin,  have  given  rise  to  other  families  proved  to 
trace  that  origin  to  the  herds  of  the  Booths,  and  the  quiet  meadows 
of  Killerby."  Mr.  J.  Booth  continued  at  Killerby  until  his  death,  in 
1857,  when  his  sons,  Thomas  C.  and  John,  came  into  possession  of 
his  herd. 

THE  WARLABY  HERD. 

"  It  is  now  necessary  to  take  a  retrospect  of  the  herd  at  Warlaby, 
commencing  with  the  year  1835,  when  Mr.  Richard  Booth,  inheriting 
the  estate,  went  to  reside  there.  Mr.  Booth's  residence  at  Warlaby 
is  a  modest,  unassuming,  country  house.  It  stands  environed  by 
well-timbered  paddocks,  in  a  rich  meadowy  tract  of  country,  bounded 
by  distant  hills,  and  known  as  the  Vale  of  the  Wiske.  It  is  one  mile 
from  the  village  of  Ainderby,  of  which  it  is  a  hamlet,  and  about 
three  from  Northallerton,  the  central  town  of  the  North-Riding,  in 
Yorkshire.  The  farm,  as  occupied  by  Mr.  Booth,  consisted  of  310 
acres,  about  half  in  pasture ;  other  farms  then  let  off,  have  since  his 

*  Sound  physiological  principle  that  should  be  heeded  by  all  careful  breeders. — L.  F.  A. 


114  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

death  been  added  to  it.  The  land  is  better  in  character  than  that  at 
Killerby ;  it  is  chiefly  clayey  loam,  and  grows  fine  wheat  and  turnips, 
and  long  hay.  The  pastures  are  well  adapted  for  cows,  but  unsuited 
for  sheep,  because  liable  to  be  flooded.  The  River  Wiske,  which 
still  retains  its  Gaelic  name,  Uisg  (water),  being  the  most  sluggish  of 
all  the  North  Yorkshire  brooks,  and  having  the  shallowest  stream- 
channel,  frequently  overflows  the  lower  pastures,  and  large,  deep 
ditches,  which  have  been  fatal  to  many  a  good  cow,  intersect  the 
fields  to  carry  off  the  water. 

"  The  house  was  everything  that  an  old  bachelor  or  his  friends 
could  require;  and  many  a  visitor  there  can  bear  testimony  that 
within  its  walls  reigned  supreme  the  open-hearted  northern  hospi- 
tality to  an  extent  that  Southrons  know  not.  Many  a  valuable  cup 
and  hard-won  medal  may  there  be  seen;  the  portrait  of  many  a 
prize-taker  decorates  its  rooms ;  and  many  a  pleasant  hour  has  been 
spent  and  ancient  story  told  in  that  quiet  Short-horn  home,  while 
the  genuine  old  Squire 

Refilled  his  pipe,  '  and  showed  how  fields  were  won.' 

"  Shortly  after  settling  at  Warlaby,  Mr.  Richard  Booth  had  quite 
made  up  his  mind  to  give  up  the  breeding  of  Short-horns,  and  had 
already  sold  individual  animals  from  the  Strawberry  and  Moss  Rose 
tribes,  when  a  bantering  remark  made  by  a  gentleman  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, to  the  effect  that  'the  Booths  had  lost  their  Blood/  incited 
him  to  change  his  purpose,  and  put  his  friend's  assertion  to  the  proof. 
The  Warlaby  herd  had  for  some  years  past  been  kept  very  much  in 
the  shade,  Mr.  Thomas  Booth  having  been  latterly  intent  only  on 
breeding  useful  animals,  without  aspiring  to  the  honors,  or  courting 
the  notoriety  of  public  exhibition ;  but  Mr.  Richard  Booth  felt 
assured  that  it  contained  ample  materials  to  enable  him  to  guard  the 
laurels  that  had  been  bequeathed  to  him." 

After  giving  with  such  luxury  of  description  the  home  of  Richard 
Booth  and  its  hospitable  occupant,  Mr.  Carr  goes  into  an  enumera- 
tion of  most  of  the  animals  adopted  as  the  bases  of  his  productive 
herd,  for  he  had  now  made  up  his  mind  again  to  heartily  enter  the 
list  in  competition  with  the  other  breeders  of  his  vicinity  for  new 
laurels  and  honors.  He  was  an  enthusiast  in  his  love  of  Short-horns, 
and  as  we  before  remarked  having  no  domestic  cares  to  withdraw  his 
attention,  his  whole  mind  was  directed  (as  a  Short-horn  breeder's 
should  be,  if  he  means  to  excel)  to  the  propagation  and  improvement 
of  his  herd,  and  in  it  he  eminently  succeeded. 


THE    WARLABY    HERD.  115 

In  glowing  rhapsody  of  almost  indiscriminate  praise — and  we  do 
not  say  that  any  portion  of  his  descriptions  are  untruthful — Mr.  Carr 
occupies  fifty  further  pages  with  the  names  of  animals  which  Richard 
Booth  bred,  the  tribes  to  which  they  belonged,  the  prizes  he  won,  and 
the  applause  he  drew  as  a  successful  breeder.  One  author  relates : 

"  It  has  been  reported  that  Mr.  Booth  refused  for  his  cow  Queen 
of  the  May,  an  offer  of  1500  guineas,*  the  highest  price  ever  bidden 
for  a  Short-horn.  The  circumstances — which  are  given  on  the  late 
Mr.  R.  Booth's  authority — are  these  :  Two  gentlemen  from  America, 
apparently  agents  for  an  American  company,  came  to  see  the  herd, 
and  when  they  saw  Queen  of  the  May  were  completely  riveted  by 
the  fascination  of  her  beauty.  After  dwelling  for  some  time  upon 
her  perfections,  they  inquired  of  Mr.  Booth  whether  he  would  part 
with  her.  He  replied  that  he  'would  not  sell  her  for  the  highest 
price  ever  given  for  a  Short-horn.'  'That,  sir,'  said  one  of  them, 
'was,  I  believe,  1200  guineas?'  Mr.  Booth  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive. They  consulted  together,  and  asked  him  whether  he  would 
take  1500  guineas,  which  Mr.  Booth  declined  to  do,  remarking  that 
if  she  bred  a  living  calf,  and  he  had  the  luck  to  rear  it,  she  was 
worth  more  to  him  to  keep,  and  they  relinquished  her  with  regret, 
leaving  on  Mr.  Booth's  mind  the  impression  that,  if  he  had  enter- 
tained the  idea,  even  that  large  amount  might  possibly  not  have  been 
their  final  offer." 

It  appears,  among  other  things,  that  Mr.  Booth  had  fallen  into  the 
recently  growing  absurd  and  destructive  practice  of  "  training "  his 
animals  for  the  annual  "  Royal "  and  district  exhibitions.  This  was 
no  less  than  loading  them  with  excessive  fat  in  order  to  win  prizes. 
This  mode  of  "training"  injured  them  for  months,  or  years,  and  in 
frequent  instances  for  life,  as  breeders,  bulls  and  cows  alike,  and  him- 
self, in  common  with  others,  severely  suffered  in  consequence.  Yet 
knowing  the  ill  effects  of  such  practice,  it  is  still  kept  up  in  England, 
and  we  fear  that  it  will  yet  leap  across  the  ocean,  to  some  extent,  in 
America.  We  trust  not,  but  there  is  no  knowing  to  what  extremes 
of  rivalry  our  spirited  breeders  may  venture  to  win  the  honors  so 
eagerly  sought  at  our  public  exhibitions.  This  system,  Mr.  Carr  says, 
Mr.  Booth  "strongly  deprecated,"  but  was  obliged  to  fall  into  it  or 
give  up  showing  his  animals  in  competition  at  the  exhibitions. 

At  Warlaby,  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  ample  estate,  surrounded  by 
faithful  servants,  happy  in  the  fidelity  of  his  old  herdsman,  "Cuddy," 

*  A  higher  price  has  been  offered  and  refused  in  the  United  States  for  a  cow.     Both  offer  and 
refusal  were  bona  fide,  as  we  know. — L.  F.  A. 


Il6  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

who  was  frequently  assisted  in  his  minor  duties  by  his  equally  faithful 
and  brave-hearted  old  wife,  "  Nanny ;"  his  trusty  fac  totum,  John  White, 
living  on  the  farm  from  his  boyhood,  "  who  was  butler,  waiting  servant, 
and  valet  to  him,  as  well  as  registrar-general  of  the  births,  deaths, 
and  marriages,  and  all  else  that  transpired  in  the  Warlaby  herd," 
Richard  Booth  lived,  dispensing  a  wide  hospitality  to  his  friends  and 
acquaintances,  and,  in  his  charities,  ever  mindful  of  the  needy. 

"  When  illness  had  confined  Mr.  Booth  to  the  house,  and  Cuddy 
had  become  less  active,  John  made  it  his  business,  in  addition  to  his 
household  duties,  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  on  the  cattle — especially 
the  young  or  ailing  ones — in  the  neighborhood  of  the  house.  So 
admirably  did  he  discharge  this  self-imposed  duty,  so  methodical 
were  his  habits,  so  retentive  his  memory,  and  so  scrupulous  his 
observance  of  his  master's  orders,  that  the  active  management  of  the 
herd  mainly  devolved  upon  his  shoulders,  and  Mr.  Booth  found  him 
an  invaluable  auxiliary. 

"Last,  not  least,  came  doughty  Willie  Jacques,  the  farm-bailiff, 
who  had  been  upwards  of  forty  years  in  the  family.  He  first  lived 
with  Mr.  R.  Booth  at  Studley,  who  sent  him  to  Warlaby  in  the  old 
master's  time,  to  take  the  management  of  the  arable  land  and  work 
people.  Willie  Jacques'  pride  was  rather  in  the  nameless  nonde- 
scripts of  the  farm,  the  bullocks  and  half-bred  heifers,  which  converted 
his  marvelous  root  and  clover  crops  into  goodly  rounds  and  lordly 
barons  of  marbled  beef,  than  in  the  pampered  aristocrats  of  the  herd, 
born  to  consume  the  fruits  of  the  soil  whether  earned  or  not.  Proud 
as  Willie  was  of  their  triumphs  in  the  show-field,  nothing  exasperated 
him  like  the  failure  on  the  part  of  any  of  them  to  contribute  their 
yearly  quota  towards  the  increase  of  the  herd.  Willie  Jacques  had  a 
capital  head  for  tillage  and  general  farming,  and  was  always  at  his 
post,  from  which  nothing  could  move  him  but  the  Christmas  Fat 
Show  at  Smithfield.  Tse  seea  thrang  I  canna  gang,'  was  his  answer 
to  all  invitations.  Curt  of  speech  and  unceremonious  in  bearing  was 
Willie  Jacques  in  his  sturdy  northern  independence ;  but  get  him 
upon  the  subject  of  his  kind  old  master,  and  all  the  frost  of  his 
nature  melted  away,  and  you  found  that  under  that  dry,  almost  blunt 
manner,  a  heart  as  kindly  as  a  child's  was  hidden.  In  one  of  the 
rooms  at  Warlaby  hung  an  admirable  portrait  of  this  highly  respecta- 
ble and  respected  steward  of  the  Warlaby  estate. 

"  But  there  was  one  other  personage,  to  forget  whom  in  a  sketch  of 
Warlaby  would  be  fatal  to  the  character  of  any  historian — a  person- 
age who,  though  seldom  visible,  has  contributed  to  the  visitor,  perhaps 


THE    WARLABY    HERD.  117 

not  the  least  comfortable  reminiscence  which  an  Englishman  carries 
away  with  him  from  any  place  of  passing  interest ;  and  that  is  Ann, 
faithful  Ann,  that  white-bibbed  paragon  of  natty  spruceness — the 
housekeeper.  She  came,  nobody  knows  how  many  years  ago,  to 
nurse  the  former  housekeeper,  an  old  friend  of  hers,  who  was  ill,  and 
who  died  at  Warlaby ;  and  Ann  continued  until  Master  could  find 
one  to  suit  him,  which  he  never  did,  and  so  Ann  remained  still ;  and 
many  are  the  visitors  who  can  testify  to  the  excellence  of  the  pigeon 
pies,  apricot  tarts,  and  other  delectable  cates,  which  those  brisk  and 
clever  hands  have  fabricated." 

This  is  a  delightful  picture,  and  we  are  happy  to  chronicle  it  in 
such  happy  connection.  "  The  good  old  man  "  died  with  the  resig- 
nation of  a  Christian,  October  31,  1864,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-six 
years,  and  was  buried  "  beneath  the  shade  of  the  old  gray  tower  of 
Ainderby,  which  looks  down  upon  the  scene  of  his  useful  and  quiet 
labors.  But  Warlaby  is  there  still,  and  his  kith  and  kin  retain  its 
hall  and  herd." 

We  here  take  our  leave  of  Mr.  Carr  and  his  interesting  history, 
and  can  only  refer  those  wishing  further  particulars  relating  to  the 
recent  breeding  of  the  Booth  stock,  to  the  book  itself.  The  present 
Thomas  C.  Booth  succeeded  to  the  Warlaby  estate,  and  a  considera- 
ble part  of  the  herd,  on  the  death  of  his  uncle  Richard.  The  labors 
and  sagacity  of  the  Booth  family — father  and  sons — whatever  merits 
may  be  truthfully  given  to  their  contemporaries,  place  them,  with  the 
Collings,  in  the  roll  of  benefactors.  As  to  the  improvements  made 
by  the  Booths  in  the  style  or  merits  of  their  stock  we  have  little,  if 
anything  to  say,  as  so  many  of  their  cattle,  and  their  direct  descend- 
ants, are  now  alive,  both  in  England  and  America,  that  every  observer 
can  form  his  own  individual  opinion.  In  their  practice  of  breeding 
they  followed  the  Collings ;  that  is,  breeding  chiefly  within  the  blood 
of  their  own  herds,  only  going  beyond  them  when  they  supposed  by 
such  course  they  could  supply  a  deficiency  of  quality,  and  that 
object  achieved,  returning  to  their  own  blood  as  the  polar  star  of 
their  progress.  That  they  bred  eminently  fine  cattle  no  one  will 
dispute;  but  whether  they  have  proved  preeminent  in  all  the  fine 
qualities  which  perfect  a  Short-horn,  those  conversant  with  them 
will  judge.  They  have  a  style,  in  some  respects,  peculiarly  their  own, 
and  as  with  all  other  animals  of  prominent  mark,  have  their  warm 
advocates,  as  well  as  those  who  look  upon  them  with  less  favor. 


118  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER     V. 

THOMAS  BATES — His  SHORT-HORNS  AND  THEIR  BREEDING. 

PARTIALLY  contemporary  in  time,  but  much  younger  in  years,  Mr. 
Bates  came  onto  the  stage  during  the  full  career  of  the  Collings  and 
the  elder  Booth.  He  established  himself  as  a  breeder  in  the  later 
days  of  the  Collings,  and  obtained  his  earliest  Short-horns  directly 
from  Charles,  and  afterwards  from  the  herds  of  Robert,  which  formed 
the  foundation  for  his  ultimate  success  in  breeding. 

We  have  recently  been  favored  with  a  book  entitled  "  The  History 
of  the  Improved  Short-horn  or  Durham  Cattle,  and  of  the  Kirkleaving- 
ton  Herd,  from  the  Notes  of  the  late  Thomas  Bates,  with  a  Memoir  by 
Thomas  Bell,  Brockton  House,  Eccleshall,  Staffordshire,"  The  book 
contains  375  pages,  smcfll  octavo,  compiled  by  one  who  intimately 
knew  Mr.  Bates,  and  for  many  years  was  a  tenant  and  herdsman  on 
a  portion  of  the  very  considerable  farm  which  Mr.  Bates  occupied  at 
Kirkleavington,  not  far  from  Darlington. 

Of  Mr.  Bates,  we  have  for  more  than  thirty  years  past  known 
somewhat,  both  in  his  various  writings,  from  what  other  Englishmen 
have  written  about  him,  and  from  men  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
who  were  personally  acquainted  with  him  and  his  herds  of  cattle,  so 
much  as  to  learn  his  personal  character,  his  manner  of  breeding,  and 
the  extent  of  success  which  he  achieved  in  the  long  course  of  his 
action.  From  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  of  New  York  City,  who  visited  Eng- 
land in  the  year  1841,  and  for  some  time  was  a  guest  of  Mr.  Bates, 
we  obtained  the  first  particulars  of  him  as  a  Short-horn  breeder,  and 
through  Mr.  A.,  as  editor  of  the  "American  Agriculturist"  he  was 
first  prominently  introduced  to  the  acquaintance  of  the  Short-horn 
breeders  of  the  United  States.  A  few  of  his  animals  had  previ- 
ously— in  the  year  1834 — come  to  America  through  the  purchases 
of  an  importing  company  formed  in  the  Scioto  Valley,  Ohio.  Not 
long  afterwards  he  sent  over,  as  a  present,  to  Kenyon  College,  in  Ohio, 
two  or  three  animals.  In  1840  he  sold  to  Mr.  George  Vail,  of  Troy, 
N.  Y.,  a  bull  and  cow,  which  will  be  hereafter  noticed. 


THOMAS  BATES'  BREEDING.  119 

While  at  his  home  in  1841,  Mr.  Bates  told  Mr.  Allen  that  he 
intended  to  write  a  history  of  the  Short-horns  for  publication,  and 
had  already  made  many  notes  for  that  purpose.  That  history,  how- 
ever, he  never  wrote  out,  nor  published.  From  those  notes  and 
various  letters  and  other  publications  left  by  him,  at  a  period  of  twenty 
years  after  his  decease  Mr.  Bell  has  compiled  his  book,  together  with 
various  collateral  matter  drawn  from  the  writings  of  others,  and  inter- 
spersed with  occasional  notes  of  his  own,  some  few  of  which  are 
original  with  himself. 

Of  Mr.  Bell's  book,  its  matter  and  compilation,  we  have  but  little 
to  say,  as  a  literary  labor.  It  lacks  methodical  arrangement.  It  has 
not  even  an  index,  other  than  the  discursive  titles  at  the  heads  of  its 
several  parts,  or  chapters,  and  they  in  no  consecutive  order  of  sub- 
ject, time,  or  place.  Its  chronology  is  deficient,  few  dates  being 
given,  and  what  there  are  of  them  playing  hither  and  thither  in 
ambuscade,  as  may  happen-  during  a  period  of  sixty  years,  disjointed 
and  difficult  to  connect.  In  the  absence  of  quotation  marks  in  the 
text,  we  hardly  know  what  is  the  composition  of  Mr.  Bates,  and  what 
the  compiler's,  except  by  guess,  while  the  various  letters  and  public 
addresses  of  Mr.  Bates  and  others  are  appropriately  marked,  but  in 
the  same  disordered  arrangement  of  time  as*  the  other  parts  of  the 
work;  yet,  by  close  examination,  we  can  understand  them.  The 
book  is  not,  in  fact,  a  lucid  history  of  either  the  Short-horns,  or  even 
of  Mr.  Bates,  or  his  cattle  breeding,  but  rather  loose  memoranda  and 
sketches  of  history  left  by  Mr.  Bates  and  others.  We  exceedingly 
regret  that  during  his  life  time  Mr.  Bates  himself  could  not  have 
written  out  his  memoranda — for  he  was  capable  of  doing  it — and  left 
to  the  world  an  intelligible  general  history  of  the  Short-horns,  as  well 
as  those  of  his  own  breeding.  Such  a  work  should  have  been  done 
by  an  Englishman,  capable  of  performing  it.  To  obtain  a  continuous 
narrative  of  Mr.  Bates'  proceedings  one  is  obliged  to  skip  over  numer- 
ous pages,  and  then  turn  back  to  keep  a  thread  of  his  "history,"  and 
arrive  at  a  clear  understanding  of  his  action.  Still,  there  is  much 
valuable  matter  scattered  throughout  the  book  which,  by  diligent 
research,  the  reader  may  appropriate  and  digest  into  important 
information.  Yet,  bating  its  deficiencies,  we  are  thankful  for  the 
work  Mr.  Bell  has  given  us,  as  some  new  facts,  through  Mr.  Bates' 
version  of  them,  are  stated  in  his  memoranda,  containing  important 
information,  which,  if  not  hitherto  secret,  or  but  partially  known, 
throw  light  on  disputed  questions,  setting  previous  inaccuracies  at 
rest. 


120  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Although  from  what  we  had  previously  learned  of  Mr.  Bates,  we 
deemed  him  a  man  addicted  to  controversy,  prejudices,  and  crotchets, 
his  writings  now  show  him  actually  to  be  such,  for  his  biographer  has 
covered  nothing  of  these  foibles,  although  his  compilations  truthfully 
illustrate  him  as  of  unexceptionable  private  character,  and  decided 
moral  worth.  The  crowning  ambition  of  his  life  to  breed  and  furnish 
the  world  a  herd  of  Short-horns  that  should  exhibit  to  posterity  his 
skill  as  a  breeder  is  fully  developed.  So  much  for  the  book.  We 
propose  to  give  from  this  and  other  authorities  a  synopsis  of  Mr. 
Bates'  life  and  proceedings  in  all  that  is  important  to  be  known  relat- 
ing to  him  and  his  stock-breeding  career,  without  either  partiality  or 
prejudice,  and  if  in  the  course  of  our  remarks  we  sometimes  touch 
on  his  inconsistencies,  or  censure  his  assertions,  it  will  only  be  in  the 
cause  of  truth  and  accuracy  of  historical  facts. 

With  all  his  partialities  and  prejudices,  Mr.  Bates  was  sound  in 
heart  and  morals ;  he  blurted  out  his  opinions  irrespective  of  whom 
they  pleased  or  offended,  and  if  he  sometimes  made  enemies,  he  had 
also  his  warm,  attached  friends.  He  was  rather  tory  in  his  politics,  a 
decided  "protectionist,"  and  an  advocate  of  the  "corn  laws"  in  prin- 
ciple ;  a  statesman  to  some  extent,  in  his  teachings,  which  his  early 
good  education,  together  with  his  naturally  broad  and  clear  observa- 
tion of  the  times,  had  helped  him  to  become.  He  was  kind  to  the 
poor,  liberal  in  his  charities,  both  private  and,  public,  a  sound  adhe- 
rent of  the  established  church — rather  of  the  "  low  "  order — a  com- 
panion and  associate  among  the  most  intelligent  classes  of  men,  and 
like  others  of  generous  sympathies,  loved  the  distinction  and  honors 
that  were  frequently  conferred  upon  him.  His  personal  habits  were 
abstemious  and  temperate ;  his  hospitality  was  open,  genial,  and  lib- 
eral, to  peer,  or  peasant ;  his  hand  ever  free  to  the  claims  of  distress ; 
his  conversation  winning,  and  open-hearted,  abounding  in  well-told 
anecdote,  and  sparkles  of  wit ;  his  affections  kindly,  and  although  a 
life-long  bachelor,  he  loved  children,  whose  companionship  was  always 
a  source  of  pleasure  to  him.  In  short,  bating  his  minor  eccentricities 
of  character,  like  very  many  Short-horn  breeders  of  his  own  and  the 
present  day,  Mr.  Bates  was — a  GENTLEMAN — with  some  oddities. 

Thomas  Bates  was  born  on  one  of  the  estates  belonging  to  the 
Dukedom  of  Northumberland,  in  the  year  1775,  in  the  valley  of  the 
river  Tyne,  on  a  place  called  Tyneside,  at  Ovington  Hall,  of  a  respect- 
able family,  among  the  elder  branches  of  which  had  been  a  Member 
of  Parliament,  a  Professor  in  the  Colleges,  and  a  Divine  of  the  Church. 
In  his  boyhood  he  was  early  sent  to  a  grammar  school ;  afterwards 


THOMAS  BATES'  BREEDING.  121 

spent  a  considerable  time  in  the  University  at  Edinburgh,  and 
received  a  good  education.  Being  of  rather  a  slender  constitution, 
and  studious  in  habit,  he  was  intended  for  the  Church;  but  that 
calling  not  suiting  his  more  active  temperament,  he  chose  agriculture 
as  a  profession.  He  began  his  agricultural  education  at  Aydon 
Castle,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  lived  George  Culley,  an  emi- 
nent stock  breeder  and  agricultural  writer,  from  whom  young  Bates 
in  his  frequent  intimacies  took  sound  lessons  in  his  newly-chosen 
pursuit.  This  period  of  his  life  must  have  been  at  about  sixteen  or 
seventeen  years  of  age ;  but  according  to  some  of  his  own  remarks 
in  later  years,  he  speaks  of  knowing  the  Collings  and  their  stock  as 
early  as  1782.  So  early  a  day,  however,  we  think  a  mistake,  as  in 
that  year  he  could  only  have  been  five  or  six  years  old.  There  are 
other  anachronisms  of  date  in  some  of  his  narrations  of  events,  inad- 
vertent, possibly,  but  which,  if  true,  would  make  him  many  years 
older  than  he  is  stated.  In  an  article  written  by  him  in  1842,  he  says  : 
"  It  is  n(nv  above  sixty  years  since  I  became  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  selecting  the  very  best  animals  to  breed  from,  and  for 
twenty-five  years  afterwards  lost  no  opportunity  of  ascertaining  the 
merits  of  the  various  tribes  of  Short-horns."  This  would  put  his 
birth  back  some  years  anterior  to  1775,  the  date  given  by  his  biogra- 
pher, as  he  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  have  much  judgment  in 
the  way  of  cattle  before  he  was  at  least  twelve  or  fifteen  years  old. 
There  may  possibly  be  an  error  as  to  his  birth  in  1775,  as  we  have 
heard  it  remarked  by  several  persons  who  knew  him  not  long  previ- 
ous to  his  death  in  1849,  that  he  must,  from  appearances  and  his  own 
statements,  have  been  at  the  time  of  their  conversations  with  him, 
although  active  and  vigorous,  quite  eighty  years  of  age.  The  fact, 
is  now  of  little  consequence;  but  that  at  a  very  early  age  he  had 
imbibed  a  passionate  love  of  farm  stock,  there  can  be  no  question. 

After  a  few  years  at  Aydon  Castle,  and  under  his  majority,  he 
became  a  tenant  farmer  under  his  father  on  the  estate  of  Park  End, 
in  the  vale  of  North  Tyne,  where  he  showed  his  aptitude  for  farming 
and  improving  land,  fencing,  and  various  other  economies  in  agricul- 
ture. There  he  remained  until  the  year  1800,  when  he  took  the 
extensive  farm  and  estate  of  Halton  Castle,  also  in  Northumberland, 
where  he  began  stock  rearing  and  grazing  on  his  own  account.  It 
appears  that  he  first  adopted  the  Kyloes,  or  West  Highland  cattle, 
which  it  was  the  custom  to  drive  in  large  numbers  from  the  rougher 
lands  in  Scotland  down  to  the  richer  farms  of  the  north  of  England, 
to  fatten  for  market.  Soon  afterwards,  these  not  altogether  suiting 


122  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

his  purpose,  he  made  a  visit  to  the  Collings,  and  was  attracted  by  the 
superior  qualities  of  the  Short-horns  of  their  several  herds.  He  saw 
the  "Durham  Ox,"  bred  and  reared  by  Charles,  and  the  peerless 
"White  Heifer  that  Traveled,"  bred  by  Robert,  and  immediately 
concluded  to  adopt  that  blood  for  his  future  breeding. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  mention  that  Mr.  Bates  had  by  gifts 
from  his  father  and  his  own  earnings  come  into  possession  of  several 
thousand  pounds,  with  which  to  commence  and  prosecute  farming 
and  stock  breeding  on  a  considerable  scale,  and  although  a  "  tenant 
farmer,"  a  comparatively  large  amount  of  capital  was  necessary  to 
establish  himself  in  that  branch  of  business.  "At  entering  on  the 
farm  at  Halton  Castle  he  received  from  his  father  many  excellent 
cattle,  and  also  the  improved  Leicester  sheep.  He  also  obtained 
some  Cleveland  bay  horses,  which  at  that  time  had  been  bred  to 
great  perfection  on  Tyneside.  The  swine,  and  even  poultry,  did  not 
escape  his  attention ;  but  it  was  to  his  herds  of  cattle  that  he  devoted 
his  greatest  attention.  He  bought  cows  of  Messrs.  Colling  in  1800, 
but  I  can  find  no  record  of  them."*  It  appears  that  so  far  as  the 
Short-horns  were  concerned  he  soon  made  a  determination  to  obtain 
the  very  best  animals  which  his  purse  would  command,  of  unimpeach- 
able blood,  and  without  regard  to  the  profits  he  should  make  from 
them,  establish  a  herd  second  to  none  other,  and  found  an  enduring 
reputation  as  a  breeder.  This  determination,  therefore,  may  be  the 
key  to  the  various  controversies  in  which  he  was  afterwards  engaged, 
and  the  acrimony  with  which  some  of  his  future  correspondence  with 
other  breeders  was  tainted,  and  into  which  he  was  probably  goaded 
by  their  accusations  upon  him.  Of  positive  convictions,  and  deter- 
mined purposes,  he  had  the  pecuniary  means  to  prosecute  his  plans, 
and  hesitated  at  nothing  which  should  honestly  accomplish  them. 

On  looking  over  the  Colling  herds  his  attention  was  peculiarly 
attracted  to  the  stock  descended  from  the  "Stanwick,"  or  first 
"Duchess"  cow  (of  which  Charles  had  become  possessed  in  1784), 
and  the  bull  Hubback,  which  it  did  not  appear  that  Colling  himself 
so  highly  appreciated  as  to  retain  it  solely  to  his  own  use.  In  a 
letter  written  by  Mr.  Bates  to  "  The  New  Farmer s  Journal"  in 
November,  1842,  he  gives  this  account:  "Having  purchased  my 
original  cow  Duchess  [calved  in  1800,  got  by  Daisy  bull  (186)],  of 
this  tribe  of  cattle,  of  the  late  Charles  Colling  thirty-eight  years  ago." 
With  some  notes  on  several  remarkable  animals  which  he  had  seen 

*  Bell's  History,  pp.  119-20. 


THOMAS  BATES'  BREEDING.  123 

of  this  stock,  he  continues :  "  I  selected  this  tribe  of  Short-horns  as 
superior  to  all  other  cattle,  not  only  as  small  consumers,  but  as  great 
growers,  and  quick  grazers,  with  the  finest  quality  of  beef.  My  first 
Duchess  calved  at  Halton  Castle,'  June  7,  1807.  She  was  kept  on 
grass  only,  in  a  pasture  with  nineteen  other  cows,  and  made  in  butter 
and  milk  for  some  months  above  two  guineas  per  week."  Not  know- 
ing the  prices  of  either  milk  by  the  gallon,  or  butter  by  the  pound, 
at  that  time,  a  statement  of  the  quantity  of  each,  which  the  cow 
made,  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  readers  of  the  present  day. 

The  pedigree  of  his  original  cow,  above  named,  of  the  Duchess 
tribe,  runs  thus  :  Got  by  Daisy  Bull  (186)  [Daisy  Bull  was  by  Favor- 
ite (252),  dam  by  Punch  (531),  gr.  d.  by  Hubback  (319)],  out  of 
Duchess,  by  Favorite  (252), — Duchess,  by  Hubback  (319), — (Stan- 
wick)  Duchess,  by  James  Brown's  red  bull  (97).  This  cow  Mr.  Bates 
took  to  his  farm  at  Halton  Castle.  Finding  by  the  use  of  Short-horn 
bulls  on  his  Highland  cow_s  how  wonderfully  it  improved  their  size 
and  quality  as  feeding  animals,  he  was  now  fully  confirmed  of  their 
superior  value  when  in  their  purity  of  blood. 

The  cow  "  Duchess,  by  Daisy  Bull,"  had  produced  Charles  Colling 
a  heifer,  by  Favorite  (252),  before,  and  in  the  same  year  that  Bates 
purchased  her,  which  heifer  Colling  retained.  The  year  succeeding 
that  in  which  Mr.  Bates  purchased  the  cow,  she  produced  the  bull 
Ketton.  (709),  also  by  Favorite,  which  he  retained  for  his  subsequent 
breeding.  Producing  no  heifer  calves  to  him,  Bates  sold  the  cow  in 
the  year  1809,  to  a  Mr.  Donkin.  While  in  the  latter  hands  she  bred 
several  calves,  but  her  heifers,  if  she  had  any,  left  no  produce.  At 
seventeen  years  of  age,  having  done  breeding,  she  was  fed  off  and 
made  an  excellent  carcass  of  beef.  She  was  always  a  great  milker. 

Having  his  eye  continually  on  this  Duchess  blood,  at  the  final  sale 
of  Charles  Ceiling's  herd  in  1810,  a  two-year-old  heifer,  "Young 
Duchess,"  by  Comet  (155),  dam  by  Favorite  (252),  gr.  d.  by  Daisy 
Bull  (186),  etc.  [this  gr.  d.  being  the  same  "Duchess,  by  Daisy  Bull," 
previously  purchased  of  Colling  by  Mr.  Bates],  was  advertised  in  the 
herd  to  be  sold.  She  was  a  granddaughter  of  "  Duchess,  by  Daisy 
Bull,"  and  as  will  be  seen  by  the  pedigree  above  mentioned,  closely 
interbred  to  the  blood  of  Favorite  (252).  This  heifer  Bates  deter- 
mined to  possess,  but  fearing  to  openly  bid  for  her  himself,  (as  Mrs. 
Colling,  who  was  as  shrewd  and  knowing  a  manager  in  the  cattle  line 
as  her  husband,  and  had  well  known  of  Bates'  predilections  for  that 
blood,  might  covertly  run  her  up  to  an  exorbitant  price,)  he  got  another 
party  to  do  the  bidding,  and  the  heifer  was  struck  off  to  him  at  183 


124  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

guineas  (a  trifle  over  $900).*  Much  chagrin  was  afterwards  mani- 
fested by  the  Ceilings  when  they  found  that  Bates  was  the  purchaser, 
and  Mrs.  C.  declared  to  him  that  had  they  known  it  was  his  bid  that 
was  made,  the  heifer  would  have  been  run  up  to  twice  or  thrice  the 
amount  before  he  could  have  taken  her !  So  it  appears  there  was 
some  chicanery  practiced  in  those  early  days  of  cattle  sales.  Bates, 
however,  triumphed  on  the  result  of  his  bargain,  as  in  this  heifer  he 
had  secured,  as  it  afterwards  proved,  his  grand  success  and  crowning 
glory  as  a  Short-horn  breeder.  He  called  the  heifer  Duchess  ist, 
(the  first  one  of  her  tribe  recorded  in  the  Herd  Book,)  and  in  his 
hands  she  became  the  founder,  on  the  female  side,  of  his  Duchess 
tribe,  which  he  exclusively  bred  for  thirty-nine  years  afterwards,  and 
which  are  continued  in  the  hands  of  several  owners  in  England  and 
America  to  the  present  day. 

Mr.  Colling  had  been  in  possession  of  the  tribe  since  he  bought 
the  original  Duchess  (Stanwick)  cow,  in  the  year  1784,  twenty-six 
years  previous  to  this  transfer  of  Duchess  ist  to  Mr.  Bates,  so  that 
the  tribe  on  the  side  of  their  dams  at  the  present  time  shows  an 
unbroken  lineage  of  eighty-eight  years. 

In  1821  Mr.  Bates  left  Halton,  and  removed  to  a  farm  of  300  acres, 
at  Ridley  Hall — whether  in  Northumberland  or  Durham,  we  are  not 
informed — which  he  had  purchased  (tenant  right,  we  suppose)  in 
1818,  and  remained  nine  years,  until  1830;  but  the  place  not  alto- 
gether suiting  him,  and  being  rather  inconvenient  of  access,  he 
purchased  Kirkleavington,  an  estate  of  about  1000  acres,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Tees,  and  removed  there  in  that  year.  He  had  now,  by  vari- 
ous manipulations  and  profitable  trades  in  the  disposition  of  his 
farms  and  otherwise,  together  with  a  legacy  from  an  aunt,  become 
possessed  of  about  ^20,000  ($100,000),  which  afforded  him  ample 
means  with  which  to  prosecute  his  cattle  breeding  and  other  labors, 
and  gave  him  leisure  to  take  part  in  the  political,  as  well  as  econom- 
ical questions  of  the  day,  touching  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
country. 

Kirkleavington  is  thus  described :  "  It  is  pleasantly  situated  on 
rising  ground  in  the  vale  of  Cleveland,  and  mostly  on  the  new  red 
sandstone  formation.  It  contains  some  excellent  grass  land.  It  had 
been  the  seat  of  the  Percys,  and  afterwards  belonged  to  the  Strath- 
more  family,  and  was  many  years  occupied  by  the  Maynards,  well 


*  The  only  bull  of  the  pure  Duchess  blood  in  Ceiling's  possession   at  the  1810  sale — Duke 
(226) — was  sold  to  Anthony  Comptoii,  Carham  Hall,  Northumberland,  for  105  guineas. 


\ 


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O 
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GO 


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p 


THOMAS  BATES'  BREEDING.  125 

known  in  Short-horn  history."*  To  Kirkleavington,  in  the  midst  of 
the  famed  Short-horn  localities,  which  surrounded  it,  he  brought  his 
cattle  stock  of  the  several  families  of  which  it  was  at  the  time  com- 
posed. In  possession  of  Duchess  ist,  by  Comet  (155),  in  the  year  1810, 
he  had  worked  industriously  on  by  the  use  of  the  "  Ketton  "  bulls,  with 
her  breeding.  Down  to  the  year  1819  that  cow  had  produced  him 
four  heifer  calves,  viz. :  Duchess  2d  and  3d,  by  Ketton  ist  (907) ; 
Duchess  4th  and  5th,  by  Ketton  2d  (710);  and  one  bull  [Cleveland 
(146)],  by  Ketton  3d  (349).  These  Kettons  were  solely  of  the  Duchess 
tribe,  and  as  closely  interbred  as  may  be  imagined,  which  their  pedi- 
grees will  show.  Yet  it  appears  that  Mr.  Bates  was  not  altogether 
satisfied  with  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Duchess  blood  in  his  bulls.  He 
once  remarked  to  a  gentleman  who  told  us  the  fact,  (and  we  have  seen 
the  same  statement  under  his  own  name,f)  that  he  at  one  time  offered 
Robert  Colling  100  guineas  ($500)  to  have  his  ist  Duchess,  by  Comet 
(155),  served  by  his  "White. bull"  (151),  whose  dam  and  granddam 
were  both  by  Favorite  (252).  "White  bull"  was  of  the  "Princess" 
tribe,  closely  related  to  the  Duchess,  but  strangers  on  the  remote 
d  m's  side  to  the  blood  of  the  latter,  she  running  back  several  gen- 
erations to  "Studley  bull"  (626).  Colling  refused  the  offer,  and 
Bates  was  disappointed. 

Down  to  the  year  1831  Mr.  Bates  had  bred  thirty-two  Duchess 
cows,  and  in  the  production  of  all  he  had  used  his  bulls  of  purely 
Duchess  blood  with  the  exceptions  of  Marske  (418),!  which  was  sire 
to  Duchess  7th,  8th  and  9th,  and  Young  Markse  (419),  §  which  was 
sire  to  Duchess  nth.  Still,  having  no  other  resource  that  suited  him 
for  a  bull  outside  of  his  own  herd,  and  holding  an  abiding  faith  in 
the  value  of  the  Duchess  blood  beyond  any  other  than  what  was 
contained  in  "Colling's  White  bull"  (151),  and  which  latter  blood,  in 
the  crosses  that  he  particularly  liked,  had  hitherto  been  out  of  his 
reach,  he  bred  on  with  his  Duchess  bulls — after  the  Kettons — Cleve- 
land (146);  The  Earl  (646);  The  2d  Earl  (1511);  The  3d  Earl 
(1514);  and  2d  Hubback  (1423),!  down  to  the  year  1831,  in  which 

*  Bell's  History,  p.  131. 

t  Bates'  letter  to  "  Mark  Lane  Express,"  written  in  1842. 

J  Marske  was  bred  by  Robert  Colling,  calved  in  1806,  got  by  Favorite  (252),  dam  by  Favorite 
(252), — by  Favorite  (252), — by  Punch  (531), — by  Hubback  (319), — by  Snowdon's  bull  (612), — by 
Masterman's  bull  (422),— by  Harrison's  bull  (292),— by  Studley  bull  (626),  a  pedigree  full  of  the 
best  blood. 

§  Young  Marske  was  got  by  Marske  (418),  out  of  Duchess  4th,  by  Ketton  2d  (710),  etc.  He 
was  of  thorough  Duchess  descent  excepting  the  cross  through  Marske,  his  sire. 

D  2d  Hubback  was  but  half  pure  Duchess  blood,  being  got  by  The  Earl  (646),  out  of  Red  Rcse 
ist,  by  Yarborough  (705),— The  American  Cow,  etc. 


126  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

his  32d  Duchess  (the  last  one  begotten  exclusively  by  the  Duchess 
bulls,  with  the  exception  of  the  Marske  and  2d  Hubback  crosses) 
was  calved. 

With  the  production  of  Duchess  32d,  Mr.  Bates  halted,  and  wisely. 
From  the  possession  of  his  Duchess  ist,  in  1810,  for  a  period  of 
twenty-two  years,  we  find  but  thirty-one  of  her  female  descendants 
recorded  in  the  Herd  Books.  There  were,  meantime,  sundry  bulls 
dropped  from  them,  but  mostly  sold  to  other  breeders,  excepting  those 
which  he  had  used  in  breeding,  and  even  they  had  been,  during  some 
seasons,  let  out  for  service  to  various  parties.  The  simple  fact  was, 
the  Duchess  cows,  as  a  whole,  had  not  been  prolific,  or  constant 
breeders,  through  abortions  or  other  causes,  and  whenever  they  passed 
a  year  or  two  without  breeding,  he  fed  off  and  slaughtered  them.* 
The  bulls  descended  from  them  showed  no  lack  of  virility,  and  Bates 
still  contended  that  the  tribe  had  increased  in  their  fineness  of  quality, 
were  admirable  feeders,  and  good  milkers  when  breeding.  He  was 
at  a  stand  how  further  to  proceed,  and  was  really — unhappy.  He 
had  little  faith  in  the  blood  of  his  neighboring  breeders,  however 
good  many  of  their  individual  animals  might  have  been,  (a  crotchet 
of  his  own,  perhaps,)  and  although  he  had  tried  one  or  two  of  their 
bulls  on  some  of  his  other  tribes  of  cows,  he  did  not,  except  in  two 
or  three  individual  cases,  risk  his  Duchesses  with  them.  From  his 
occasional  attacks  on  their  blood  (for  he  was  prone  to  speak  his  mind 
freely  of  what  he  either  liked  or  disliked)  he  had  somewhat  aroused 
their  ire,  and  could  find  no  relief  in  anything  they  had  to  offer  him, 
if  indeed,  any  offer  of  their  assistance  was  made.  He  would  not  go 
to  the  Booths,  as  they  contended  that  four  crosses  of  well-bred  pedi- 
gree bulls,  on  good,  well-bred  cows,  originally  without  recorded  pedi- 
grees, were  sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  standard  blood.  Nor 
would  he  go  to  Mason,  Wetherell,  Maynard,  or  any  other  of  the  old 
breeders  for  a  bull,  as  he  found  some  flaw  or  other,  more  or  less,  in 
their  pedigrees,  or  with  being  tainted  late  in  the  last  century  with  the 
"  Alloy  "  (Galloway)  blood  of  Charles  Colling,  through  the  "  Grandson 
of  Bolingbroke"  (280). 

Hearing  that  Mr.  John  Stephenson,  living  at  Wolviston,  about 
twelve  miles  distant,  had  some  stock  descended  from  the  Princess 
tribe  of  Robert  Colling  (and  of  which  Stephenson  had  become  pos- 
sessed through  Sir  Henry  Vane  Tempest,  and  his  wife,  the  Countess 
of  Antrim,  who  had  years  before  bought  it  from  Colling),  he  rode 

*  Bell's  History. 


mat 


THOMAS  BATES'  BREEDING.  127 

over  there  one  day  to  see  whether  he  could  find  anything  to  suit 
him.  In  passing  a  stable  on  his  way  to  the  house,  through  a  window 
opening  into  it,  he  spied  the  head  of  a  bull  which  immediately 
excited  his  curiosity.  He  went  in  and  there  saw  Belvedere  (1706). 
He  proceeded  to  the  house,  met  Mr.  Stephenson,  and  asked  his 
price  for  the  bull.  He  had  used  him  several  years,  being  then, 
in  1831,  six  years  old,  and  not  caring  for  further  use  of  him,  a 
bargain  was  struck.  The  next  day  Mr.  S.  drove  the  bull  to  Kirk- 
leavington,  and  Mr.  Bates  paid  £$o  ($250)  for  him.  The  bull's 
pedigree  was  fully  ascertained  to  the  satisfaction  of  Mr.  JBates,  being 
essentially  of  the  blood  of  Robert  Colling's  White  bull  (151),  through 
descents  of  the  same  character,  and  he  thus  became  established  for 
some  years,  as  the  future  breeding  bull  of  Mr.  Bates'  herd.  His 
pedigree  is  thus  given  in  Vol.  3,  English  Herd  Book : 

"(1706.)  BELVEDERE. — Yellow  roan,  calved  April  6,  1826,  bred 
by  Mr.  Stephenson,  the  property  of  Mr.  Bates,  Kirkleavington,  near 
Yarm,  got  by  Waterloo  (2816),  dam  Angelina  2d,  by  Young  Wyn- 
yard  (2858), — Angelina,  by  Phenomenon  (491), — Anne  Boleyn,  by 
Favorite  (252), — Princess,  by  Favorite  (252)  [bred  by  R.  Colling, 
and  own  sister  to  his  White  bull  (151)], — by  Favorite  (252), — by 
Hubback  (319), — by  Snowdon's  bull  (612), — by  James  Masterman's 
bull  (422), — by  Mr.  Harrison's  bull  [bred  by  Mr.  Waistell,  of  Burdon] 
(292),*  bought  of  Mr.  Pickering,  of  Sedgefield,  by  Mr.  Hall." 

With  the  possession  of  Belvedere,  in  the  next  year  he  had  by  him 
two  Duchess  heifers — 33d  from  Duchess  igth,  and  34th  from  Duchess 
29th.  In  1833  he  had  one  heifer,  Duchess  35th,  by  Gambier  (2046) 
[by  Bertram  (1716),  bred  by  Mr.  Whitaker,  an  outside  cross  alto- 
gether from  his  Duchess  tribe].  In  1834  he  had  two  Duchesses,  36th 
and  37th,  by  Belvedere.  In  1835  he  had  38th  Duchess,  by  Norfolk 
(2377)  [bred  by  Whitaker,  got  by  2d  Hubback  (1423),  one-fourth 
part  Duchess  and  the  other  three-fourths  good  blood,  running  back 
into  the  Colling  stock],  and  Duchess  39th,  4oth  and  4ist,  by  Belve- 
dere. In  1837  he  had  Duchess  42d  and  43d,  by  Belvedere,  which 
were  the  last  heifers  of  the  tribe  got  by  him. 

On  the  introduction  of  Belvedere  to  his  herd  Mr.  Bates  used  him 
freely  on  his  other  tribes  in  which  his  crosses  will  be  found  on  exam- 
ination of  their  pedigrees  in  the  Herd  Books,  up  to  the  year  1837. 
Having  had  the  use  of  him  now  six  years,  and  needing  him  no 


*  These  figures,  in  the  Herd  Book,  are  a  mistake,  being  (669),  which  we  have  corrected.     (669) 
is  Waistell's  bull,  got  by  Masterman's  bull,  in  Belvedere's  Herd  Book  pedigree. 


128  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

further,  as  he  then  had  several  young  bulls  got  by  him  of  Duchess 
and  other  families ;  and  determining  that  his  blood  go  no  further 
directly  into  other  hands  than  his  own,  he  had  him  slaughtered. 

In  the  year  1838  we  find  three  Duchess  heifers,  44th,  45th  and  46th, 
were  produced  by  Short  Tail  (2621)  (calved  in  1835,  by  Belvedere,  out 
of  Duchess  32d),  and  in  1839  three  more,  47th,  48th  and  49th,  (48th 
and  49th  being  twins),  also  by  Short  Tail.  This  bull,  although  fine 
in  quality,  was  inferior  in  size  and  not  commanding  in  appearance, 
yet  Mr.  Bates  always  said  he  was  one  of  the  best  getters  he  had  used. 
He  bred  him  freely  to  many  of  his  cows  outside  of  the  Duchess  tribe. 
In  the  last  named  year  (1839)  he  also  had  one  Duchess,  5oth,  by 
Duke  of  Northumberland  (1940)  (calved  in  1835,  by  Belvedere,  out 
of  his  own  daughter,  Duchess  34th,  having  two  direct  crosses  of 
Belvedere  in  him). 

The  crosses  of  Belvedere  on  the  Duchess,  as  well  as  on  the  other 
tribes  of  cows  belonging  to  Mr.  Bates,  as  he  had  anticipated,  proved 
eminently  successful,  as  had  also  those  of  Short  Tail  and  Duke  of 
Northumberland.  The  fame  of  this  last  named  bull  has  been  so 
widely  spread,  both  in  tradition  and  history,  that  a  further  notice  of 
him  is  scarcely  necessary.  His  pedigree  is  fully  shown  in  the  Eng- 
lish Herd  Book,  and  his  qualities  are  familiarly  known  wherever  the 
Short-horns  are  intelligently  bred.*  His  dam,  Duchess  34th,f  was  a 
remarkable  cow,  both  as  a  milker  and  in  the  exceeding  symmetry  of 
her  form.  At  a  year  old  she  broke  one  of  her  legs,  and  was  con- 
fined in  the  stable,  most  of  the  time  in  slings,  for  the  better  part  of  a 
year.  Yet,  when  recovered,  she  grew  up  a  stately  cow,  although 
from  her  constant  milking  and  continuous  breeding,  she  was  usually 
low  in  flesh.  She  was  never  but  once  exhibited  at  a  show,  and  then 
at  nine  years  old,  took  the  first  prize  over  one  of — if  not  the  very 
best  show  cows  in  England  at  the  time — Mr.  Booth's  famous  Neck- 
lace, at  four  years  old. 

DUCHESS  34TH  OFFERED  TO  GO  TO  AMERICA. 

There  is  one  fact  which — years  ago — we  had  publicly  stated,  and 
since  repeated,  relating  to  this  cow,  which  was  that  Mr.  Bates  early 

*  While  Mr.  Bates  owned  Duke  of  Northumberland  (and  he  died  his  property)  he  was  at  vari- 
ous times  offered  almost  fabulous  prices  for  him,  but  would  not  listen  to  any  of  them,  deter- 
mined that  so  good  a  bull  should  never  go  out  of  his  own  possession. 

t  Duchess  34th  produced  six  living  calves,  viz. :  Duke  of  Northumberland  (1940),  ad  Duke 
of  Northumberland  (3646),  and  Duchess  43d,  all  by  Belvedere ;  also  Duchess  46th,  and  3d  and  4th 
Dukes  of  Northumberland  (3647)  and  (3649),  by  Short  Tail  (2621).  Duchess  34th  also  produced 
one  premature  birth,  and  another  bull  calf,  which  lived  but  two  months,  making  eight  calves  in 
all. 


f 


THE    MATCH  EM    COW.  129 

in  the  year  1834  offered  to  sell  her,  then  two  years  old,  to  Mr.  Ferix 
Renick,  to  be  taken  to  the  United  States.  This  fact  has  been  dis- 
puted here — but  only  on  the  negative  testimony  of  a  party  who  went 
out  with  Mr.  Renick,  and  did  not  personally  hear  either  the  offer  or 
its  refusal.  To  set  the  truth  of  the  fact  at  rest,  which  we  stated  (as 
received  in  the  year  1841,  from  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  of  New  York,  to 
whom  Mr.  Bates  himself  told  it),  we  quote  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Bates 
to  Mr.  Renick,  written  a  year  or  two  after  the  latter  was  in  England : 
"  Broken  Leg  (Duchess  34th),  I  offered  you  at  100  guineas.  If  you 
were  to  send  twenty  times  that  sum  for  her  and  her  produce,  I  would 
not  take  it  now."  The  full  letter  is  found  in  "Bell's  History,"  p.  227. 
She  had,  when  the  letter  was  written,  produced  the  bull  Duke  of 
Northumberland  (1940)  to  Mr.  Bates,  and  it  proved  fortunate  for  him 
that  Mr.  Renick  did  not  take  her. 

We  here  temporarily  leave  the  Duchess  tribe  to  notice  a  new  intro- 
duction into  his  herd,  viz. :  - 

. 

THE  MATCHEM  Cow, 

By  which  we  arrive  at  another  era  in  the  choice  breeding  of  Mr.  Bates 
through  the  infusion  of  a  new  cross  of  .blood  into  his  Duchess  tribe, 
and  the  history  is  too  important  to  be  omitted.  We  condense  it  from 
Mr.  Bates'  own  account,  as  given  in  "  The  New  Farmers'  Journal" 
(English),  dated  August  6,  1841.  "I  purchased  her  in  1831,  she  then 
being  four  years  old,  at  the  sale  of  Mr.  Brown,  who  had  purchased 
her  granddam  at  public  sale  many  years  before.  The  catalogue  of 
Mr.  Brown's  sale  only  stated  that  the  cow  was  by  Matchem  (2281),* 
and  her  dam  by  Young  Wynyard  (2859).  The  pedigree  then  traced 
no  further — the  original  owner  of  the  stock  being  dead  previous  to 
the  sale  [at  which  Mr.  Brown  bought  her] — but  I  have  since  learned 
from  those  who  knew  the  stock  for  many  years,  that  the  greatest 


*  The  published  pedigree  of  Matchem  (2281),  E.  H.  B.,  states  that  he  was  got  by  Boimy  Face 
(807)  or  St.  Albans  (1412),  but  the  fact  has  since  been  generally  conceded  among  the  older  breed- 
ers that  St.  Albans  was  the  true  sire  of  Matchem.  St.  Albans  was  a  pure  Princess  bull,  being  got 
by  Wynyard  (703),  out  of  Nell  Gwynn,  by  Phenomenon  (491),— Princess,  by  Favorite  (252),— by 
Favorite  (252),  etc.,  running  back  through  Hubback  (319)  to  Studley  bull  (626). 

An  odd  story,  connected  with  St.  Albans,  is  related  by  Mr.  Dixon  in  "  Saddle  and  Sirloin." 
The  bull  was  at  first  called  "  Prince,"  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  Mr.  Wood,  who  did  not  at  all 
appreciate  him,  and  sold  him  to  a  butcher,  whom  Mr.  Mason  covertly  engaged  to  buy  him  for 
^20  ($100).  Three  years  afterwards  Wood  being  at  Chilton  (Mr.  Mason's  place),  he  caught  a 
glimpse  of  St.  Alban's  head,  then  fifteen  years  old,  and  exclaimed  :  u  Why,  this  is  my  old 
Prince  ;  he  was  bought  to  kill."  Mason,  however,  better  knew  the  value  of  the  bull.  He  had 
re-named  him  St.  Albans,  and  bred  him  in  his  herd,  and  the  bull  thus  became  the  sire  of  a  noted 
progeny. — L.  F.  A. 


130  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

attention  had  been  paid  to  their  breeding,  and  that  the  former  owner 
had  only  used  bulls  of  the  Wynyard  or  Princess  blood  from  the  time 
the  late  Sir  Henry  Vane  Tempest  purchased  that  tribe  from  the  late 
Robert  Colling,  now  near  forty  years  ago."* 

To  this  Princess  blood,  as  has  already  been  observed,  Mr.  Bates 
had  always  been  attached,  and  now,  in  this  Matchem  cow,  from  her 
appearance,  and  what  he  had  learned  of  her  breeding,  he  hoped  for 
good  results  in  her  produce — after  his  own  manner  of  obtaining  them. 
When  he  purchased  her  he  put  her  into  the  hands  of  his  tenants, 
Messrs.  Bell,  for  whom,  including  those  in  Mr.  Brown's  hands,  she 
bred  five,  what  Mr.  Bates  called,  inferior  calves,  from  being  put  to 
what  he,  in  his  criticising  temper,  called  inferior  bulls.  PC  took  the 
cow  from  the  Bells  at  the  price  he  originally  paid  for  her,  £11  ($55), 
believing  that  if  bred  to  his  own  bulls  of  the  Duchess  tribe,  she  would 
breed  first  class  stock. 

Matchem  Cow  was  white  in  color,  of  good  size  and  symmetry,  and 
a  most  excellent  milker,  to  which  latter  quality  Bates  was  always 
partial,  and  strived  to  promote  through  the  whole  course  of  his  breed- 
ing. Her  sire,  Matchem,  on  his  dam's  side,  run  back  into  the 
Favorite,  Foljambe,  Hubback  and  Maynard  blood ;  so  that  the  cow 
was  considered  by  Mr.  Bates  to  be  a  proper  instrument  to  work  a 
fresh  infusion  of  blood  into  his  own  Duchess  tribe,  although  the  latter 
had  been  crossed  but  a  few  years  before  into  the  blood  of  Belvedere. 
The  cow  came  into  Bates'  herd  early  in  1833,  and  in  November  fol- 
lowing she  produced  a  roan  heifer  calf  to  Gambier  (2046),  of  which 
calf  we  have  no  account  beyond  her  birth ;  but  Matchem  Cow  being 
put  to  Duke  of  Cleveland  (1937)  (by  Bertram  (1716),  out  of  his  26th 
Duchess),  she  produced  in  November,  1834,  Oxford  Premium  Cow, 
so  called  from  having  afterwards  taken  the  first  premium  at  the 
"Royal"  Show  at  Oxford  in  the  year  1839.1 

*  In  the  recorded  pedigree  of  the  bull  Young  Wynyard,  he  is  stated  to  be  bred  by  the  Countess 
of  Antrim.  This  lady  bore  that  title  in  her  own  right  of  descent,  altogether  independent  of  her 
then  husband,  Sir  Henry  Vane  Tempest,  who  was  only  a  Baronet  in  title,  and  of  course  less  in 
rank  than  his  wife,  she  having  the  legal  right  to  retain  her  title  irrespective  of  the  name  of  her 
husband.  It  was  on  her  estate  of  Wynyard  that  the  bull  Young  Wynyard  was  bred  ;  and  although 
both  husband  and  wife  bred  Short-horn  cattle,  each  had  them  as  their  own  personal  properties. 
The  Wynyard  bulls  and  the  cows  from  which  they  were  descended,  were  through  three  crosses 
by  Favorite  (252),  bred  back  to  Hubback  (319),  and  for  several  generations  beyond,  to  the  original 
"  cow  bought  of  Mr.  Pickering,"  about  the  year  1739,  all  of  Robert  Ceiling's  Princess  tribe. — 
L.  F.  A. 

t  Two  of  Oxford  Premium  Cow's  bulls  afterwards  came  to  America  ;  one,  Locomotive  92  (4242) 
[by  Duke  of  Northumberland  (1940)],  for  Mr.  J.  C.  Letton  of  Kentucky;  the  next,  Duke  of 
Wellington  55  (3654)  [by  Short  Tail  (2621)],  for  Mr.  George  Vail,  Troy,  N.  Y.  In  January,  1836, 
Matchem  Cow  also  produced  a  bull  calf  by  Duke  of  Cleveland — made  a  steer ;  in  December  of 


THE    DUCHESS    TRIBE.  131 

After  growing  up,  fit  for  service,  Mr.  Bates  bred  the  ist  and  2d 
Cleveland  Lads,  and  2d  Duke  of  Oxford  (9046)  (by  Duke  of  North- 
umberland, out  of  Oxford  2d,  above  mentioned)  to  more  or  less  of 
his  Duchess  cows,  until  the  year  of  his  death,  in  1849.  Thus  the 
two  families  of  Duchess  and  Oxford  (Matchem  Cow),  became  incorpo- 
rated, and  the  bulls  of  either  tribe  were  severally  used  to  both  classes 
of  the  cows,  not  only  during  Mr.  Bates'  life,  but  they  have  been,  with 
few  exceptional  crosses  by  bulls  of  other  good  blood,  so  continued  to 
the  present  day,  under  the  more  general  term  of  "the  Bates  blood." 
The  female  descendants  have,  however,  always  been  kept  separate  in 
both  name  and  classification  of  Duchess,  or  Oxford,  running  back  in 
their  own  female  genealogies ;  but  now,  after  so  long  an  interbreeding 
of  nearly  forty  years,  become  almost  of  identical  blood. 

RETURN  TO  THE  DUCHESS  TRIBE. 

\ 

Following  the  year  in  which  Duchess  5oth,  by  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land (1940),  was  calved,  in  1840,  came  Duchess  5  ist,  by  Cleveland  Lad 
(3407).  In  1841  came  Duchess  52d,  by  Holkar  (4041)  (mainly  of 
Belvedere  and  Duchess  blood).  In  1842  came  Duchess  53d,  by  Duke 
of  Northumberland.  In  1844,  Duchess  54th,  by  2d  Cleveland  Lad 
(3408),  Duchess  55th,  by  4th  Duke  of  Northumberland  (3649),  and 
Duchess  56th,  by  2d  Duke  of  Northumberland  (3646).  In  1845, 
Duchess  57th,  by  2d  Cleveland  Lad  (3408).  In  1846,  Duchess  58th, 
by  Lord  Barrington  (9308)  (with  three  direct  Bates  crosses  in  him). 
In  1847,  59th  Duchess,  by  2d  Duke  of  Oxford  (9046),  and  6oth,  by 
4th  Duke  of  Northumberland  (3649).  In  1848  came  6ist,  62d  and 
63d  Duchess,  by  2d  Duke  of  Oxford;  and  in  1849,  64th  Duchess,  by 
2d  Duke  of  Oxford,  being  the  last  of  the  Duchess  heifers  calved  in 
Mr.  Bates'  possession. 

We  have  been  thus  minute  in  enumerating  the  Duchess  tribe  while 
in  Mr.  Bates'  hands,  to  show  with  what  pertinacity  he  adhered  to  his 
own  plans  of  breeding,  and  how  he  concentrated  in  them  the  strains 
of  blood  which,  he  considered  most  valuable  to  effect  his  purposes. 
It  was  not,  as  rrk_alWays  remarked,  simply  to  make  money  out  of 

the  same  year  she  produced  Cleveland  Lad  (3407)  ;  in  March,  1838,  zd  Cleveland  Lad  (3408) ;  and 
in  April,  1839,  the  heifer  Oxford  2d,  all  three  of  them  by  Short  Tail  (2621).  From  this  last  calf 
of  Matchem  Cow,  Oxford  2d,  with  the  exception  of  Oxford  4th,  calved  in  1843,  by  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  which  is  the  last  calf  Oxford  Premium  Cow  produced,  all  the  legitimate  race  of 
Oxford's  bulls  and  cows  have  proceeded.  Having  produced  ten  calves  Matchem  Cow  was  put 
dry,  and  after  feeding,  made  a  carcass  of  850  pounds  of  beef.  Mr.  Bates  described  her  as  being 
remarkably  healthy,  hardy,  and  an  extraordinary  milker. 


132  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

them — and  which,  in  fact,  he  never  did — but  to  achieve  a  success  in 
breeding  up  a  herd  which  should,  in  future  hands,  carry  his  name 
down  to  posterity.  In  this  he  succeeded  after  an  anxious  labor  of 
forty  years,  as  is  fully  evinced  in  the  almost  fabulous  prices  at  which 
they  have  been  sold  and  still  sell — $3,000  to  $5,000  each,  and  even 
more  than  the  latter  price  for  bulls,  and  much  higher  prices  for  cows, 
when  they  can  be  purchased  at  all,  which  is  seldom ;  in  such  close 
corporation  do  their  owners  hold  them  that  such  an  event  in  Short- 
horn history  is  properly  worth  recording.  Nor,  need  these  prices  be 
altogether  called  infatuation.  Many  noblemen,  as  well  as  common- 
ers in  England,  who  can  wield  the  purses,  and  intelligent,  enterpris- 
ing men  in  America,  who  have  the  spirit  and  means  at  command, 
are  eager  to  purchase  and  breed  one  or  the  other,  or  both  the 
"Duchess"  and  "Oxfords,"  and  when  they  feel  unable  or  unwill- 
ing to  grapple  with  the  "pure  Bates"  in  its  fullness,  they  strive  to 
get  all  they  can  of  the  blood  wherewith  to  cross  their  herds.  Such 
is  the  fact,  in  the  year  1872 ;  and  although  a  succeeding  generation 
may  call  it  a  folly,  yet  the  additional  fact  that  the  use  of  this  blood 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  has  improved  the  qualities  of  many  of 
the  Short-horn  race,  and  increased  their  popularity  with  their  breed- 
ers, proves  that  the  result  has  been  both  good  and  profitable. 

Notwithstanding  the  above  laudatory  remarks,  let  it  be  understood 
by  the  reader  that  we  take  no  sides  in  the  question  of  the  superior 
merit  of  the  "  Bates  stock  "  over  many  others  of  different  strains  of 
blood  and  breeding.  We  only  write  history.  There  no  doubt  may 
be,  and  are,  individual  animals  of  divergent  blood,  and  miscellaneous 
breeding,  of  pure  Short-horn  stock  equally  good — possibly  better 
than  the  average  animals  of  the  "Bates  stock,"  and  perhaps  equally 
valuable  for  practical  uses.  Of  this  each  one  will  judge  for  himself; 
we  wish,  in  our  remarks,  to  prejudice  nothing. 

MR.  BATES'  OTHER  TRIBES. 

Of  the  Oxford  tribe,  from  the  year  1834  to  the  year  1849,  inclusive, 
Mr.  Bates  had  bred  fourteen  females. 

Of  the  Waterloo  tribe  (the  first  cow  got  by  Waterloo  (2816),  dam 
by  Waterloo  (1816),  being  two  crosses  by  that  bull,  as  we  find  in  her 
pedigree,  Vol.  3,  E.  H.  B.,  which  he  bought  at  Thorpe,  Durham), 
Mr.  Bell's  history  gives  the  following  account  written  by  Mr.  Bates: 
"  I  have  seen  the  gentleman  who  bred  the  Waterloo  cow,  lately,  and 
he  stated  to  me  that  he  and  his  father  had  had  the  breed  for  fifty 


BATES'  OTHER  TRIBES.  133 

years,  and  that  they  were  well  descended  all  that  time,  having  had  a 
Son  of  Comet  (155),  and  other  blood  before  the  cross  of  Waterloo 
(2816)."  Of  these  Mr.  Bates  bred,  from  1832  to  1849,  inclusive, 
from  the  original  cow,  twelve  females. 

Of  the  Red  Rose  tribe,  springing  from  the  original  one  he  bought 
of  Mr.  Hustler,  (descended  from  the  "American  Cow,"  previously 
mentioned,)  from  the  year  1821  to  the  year  1833,  inclusive,  he  bred 
eleven  females.  Taking  a  premium  with  the  i3th  of  the  tribe,  calved 
in  1834  (the  i2th  in  descent  from  the  original,  Red  Rose  ist),  at  the 
Cambridge  Exhibition,  she  was  afterwards  called  Cambridge  Rose, 
and  the  successive  heifers  of  the  Red  Rose  family  were  called  Cam- 
bridge Rose  down  to  the  year  1849,  inclusive,  of  which  there  were 
seven  in  number,  making  eighteen  of  the  entire  number  of  females 
descended  from  the  original  cow. 

Of  the  Wild  Eyes  tribe,  Mr.  Parrington,  of  the  Middlesbro'  farm, 
near  Stockton,  on  the  river  Tees,  a  good  Short-horn  breeder,  sold 
his  herd  (Mr.  Bell  says  in  the  year  1831,  but  this  must  be  a  mistake, 
as  the  birth  of  the  calf  which  Mr.  Bates  bought  there  with  her  pedi- 
gree in  the  3d  and  5th  Vols.  E.  H.  B.,  is  dated  in  1832),  and  Mr. 
Bates  bought  a  roan  heifer  calf  called  Wildair ;  but  after  going  to  his 
farm  she  obtained  the  name  of  Wild  Eyes.  She  was  got  by  Superior 
(1975),  dam  by  Wonderful  (700),  etc.  (This  cow  has,  by  some,  been 
confounded  with  the  famous  cow  Wildair,  bred  by  Robert  Colling, 
but  not  so,  being  of  altogether  different  descent  from  her.)  The 
full  pedigree  of  the  tribe  is  recorded  in  the  cow  Wild  Eyes  26th, 
imported  by  Mr.  Cochrane,  of  Canada,  Vol.  9,  p.  1008,  A.  H.  B.  Of 
this  tribe  Mr.  Bates  bred  from  his  first  calf  bought  of  Mr.  Parrington 
from  the  years  1835  to  1849,  inclusive,  twenty-nine  females. 

Of  the  Foggathorpe  tribe,  Mr.  Bates  bought  the  original  cow  Fog- 
gathorpe,  of  Mr.  Edwards,  Market  Weighton.  She  was  then  ten 
years  old,  got  by  Marlbro'  (1189),  out^of  Rosebud,  by  Ebor  (997), 
etc.  Her  full  pedigree  is  in  Vol.  5,  p.  386,  E.  H.  B.  From  her 
descended  ,five  females,  bred  by  Mr.  Bates  from  the  year  1840  to 
1850,  inclusive — the  last  calf  being  dropped  after  Mr.  B.'s  death. 

Many  bufts^and  possibly  some  females,  were  sold  from  these  tribes, 
but  no  females  from  the  Duchess  and  Oxfords,  during  the  years 
that  Mr.  Bates  was  breeding  them.  Of  the  latter  two  families  we 
have  seen  no  account  in  other  hands  previous  to  his  decease.  The 
females  were  all  bred  to  Mr.  Bates'  Duchess  and  Oxford  bulls,  with 
few  exceptions,  and  the  exceptions  possessed  much  of  their  blood. 


134  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


COLORS  OF  THE  BATES  HERDS. 

It  may  be  of  some  interest  to  know  the  prevailing  colors  attached 
to  the  various  tribes  of  Mr.  Bates'  breeding ;  not  that  we  deem  any 
particular  color  or  shades,  or  admixtures  of  color,  from  deep  red  to 
pure  white,  objectionable — all  being  equally  legitimate  in  Short-horn 
blood — but  there  was  more  uniformity  in  the  colors  of  Mr.  Bates' 
herd  probably  than  in  any  other  large  one  of  his  time. 

To  trace  back  the  colors  of  the  ancestry  of  Duchess  ist,  by  Comet : 
The  original  one  of  the  tribe — the  Stanwick  Cow — was  a  yellowish 
red  roan ;  her  sire,  J.  Brown's  red  bull,  of  course,  was  red  in  color. 
What  was  the  color  of  her  daughter,  by  Hubback  (he  was  yellow-red 
and  white),  we  are  not  informed ;  but  the  granddaughter,  Duchess, 
by  Daisy  bull  (his  color  not  given),  was  red  roan,  with  some  patches 
of  white  intermixed.  Of  the  other  daughter,  by  Favorite  (he  was 
roan),  we  have  no  information ;  but  her  daughter,  Bates'  Duchess 
ist,  by  Comet  (he  was  light  roan),  was  red  and  white,  the  red  largely 
predominating.  The  bulls,  Ketton  ist,  26.  and  3d,  which  Mr.  Bates 
used  for  the  next  seven  years  in  the  Duchess  breeding,  were  mostly 
red,  with  some  white.  Marske  (418),  the  next  bull,  was  roan.  The 
next  bull,  Cleveland,  was  red  and  white.  Young  Marske,  red  and 
white.  The  Earl,  yellow-red,  some  white.  The  26.  and  3d  Earls, 
both  red  and  white;  2d  Hubback,  yellow-red  and  white.  These 
were  the  bulls  used  down  to  the  year  1832,  when  Belvedere  was 
brought  into  the  herd.  All  the  Duchesses  descended  from  these 
bulls  down  to  the  32d,  inclusive,  were  red  and  white  (the  red  largely 
predominating  over  the  white),  excepting  the  i2th,  red,  and  i9th, 
which  latter  was  yellow-red. 

Belvedere  was  yellow-roan  in  color.  Six  of  his  Duchess  heifers 
were  roan ;  three  red  and  white,  and  one  red ;  the  only  Duchess 
heifer  calf  got  by  Gambier  (red)  was  red  also ;  the  only  one  got  by 
Norfolk  (roan)  was  also  roan.  Short  Tail  (red  and  white)  got  five 
red  and  white,  and  one  red,  heifers.  Duke  of  Northumberland  (red 
roan)  got  the  first  and  only  pure  white  heifer  ever  bred  by  Mr.  Bates 
of  the  Duchess  family,  and  another  roan  heifer.  Cleveland  Lad 
(red  roan)  got  one  Duchess  heifer,  roan.  Holkar  (deep  red  with 
little  white)  got  one  Duchess  heifer,  red  and  white ;  2d  Cleveland 
Lad  (roan)  got  one  red,  one  red  and  white,  and  one  roan  Duchess 
heifer;  2d  Duke  of  Northumberland  (red  and  white)  got  but  one 
Duchess  heifer,  red  and  white ;  4th  Duke  of  Northumberland  (red 


COLORS    OF    THE    BATES    HERDS.  135 

and  white)  got  two  red  heifers.  Lord  Barrington  (red  and  white) 
got  one  Duchess  heifer,  red ;  2d  Duke  of  Oxford  (roan)  got  two 
roans,  one  red  roan,  one  red  and  white,  and  one  red  heifer,  the  last 
one  finishing  up  all  the  Duchesses  of  Mr.  Bates'  breeding. 

Matchem  Cow,  the  original  dam  of  the  Oxford  tribe,  it  will  be 
recollected  was  white,  and  from  her  came  the  lighter  colors  which  fol- 
lowed in  her  progeny,  all  of  her  seven  calves,  after  coming  into  Mr. 
Bates'  possession,  being  roans,  and  red  roans.  Only  one  of  the  heifers 
of  this  tribe  was  white.  She  was  Oxford  3d,  by  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland (red  roan),  out  of  Oxford  Premium  Cow,  roan ;  another  of 
them  was  red  and  white,  by  the  same  bull,  and  out  of  the  same  cow ; 
another  was  red  and  white,  and  all  the  others  roan. 

Of  the  Waterloo  tribe,  four  were  roans,  four  red,  three  red  and 
white,  and  one  yellow-red  and  white. 

Of  the  Red  Roses,  nine  were  red  and  white,  and  two  roan,  and  of 
their  successors,  the  Cambridge  Roses,  three  were  roans,  one  white, 
one  red  and  white,  and  one  "red. 

Of  the  Wild  Eyes,  seventeen  were  roan,  two  red,  six  red  and  white, 
one  yellow-red  and  white,  and  two  white. 

Of  the  Foggathorpes,  the  original  dam  was  roan,  and  of  the  pro- 
duce one  was  white,  the  next  one  red  and  white,  and  the  remaining 
three  roan. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  of  all  Mr.  Bates'  chosen  tribes  the  red  and 
white  largely  prevailed  in  his  Duchess  and  Red  Roses ;  the  roans  in 
the  others,  and  the  whites  were  seldom  found  in  either.  We  draw  no 
inferences  either  of  partiality  or  prejudice  which  Mr.  Bates  had  in 
the  way  of  colors,  only  stating  the  fact  as  matter  of  history.  To  the 
present  day  red,  and  red  and  white,  prevail  in  the  Duchess,  and  red 
and  white,  and  roans  prevail  in  the  Oxfords,  with  now  and  then  a 
rare  exception  of  white  in  either  tribe,  while  the  other  tribes  have 
been  so  widely  scattered  and  crossed  by  other  and  divers  bulls,  that 
we  can  scarcely  keep  track  of  their  colors  as  having  any  fixed 
peculiarity" 

It  maylbe  asked,  Was  Mr.  Bates  successful  in  winning  prizes  on  his 
stock  at  The  various  exhibitions  of  Short-horns  held  in  England 
during  the  time  of  his  breeding  ? 

As  we  find  among  his  numerous  communications  on  that  subject, 
he  was,  as  a  rule  with  himself,  opposed  to  prize  exhibitions  of  his 
stock  at  the  various  cattle  shows,  for  the  reason,  as  he  remarked, 
that  there  were  few  men  among  the  judges  usually  appointed  on 
these  occasions,  fit  for  the  duty.  He  once  remarked  that  "there 


136  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

were  a  hundred  men  fit  for  a  Prime  Minister  where  there  was  one 
competent  to  act  as  a  proper  judge  of  Short-horns."  He  did  occa- 
sionally exhibit,  however,  and  won  more  or  less  first  prizes ;  but  in 
some  cases  afterwards,  insisted  that  his  inferior  beasts  did  the  win- 
ning, while  his  best  ones  were  overlooked — one  of  his  crotchets, 
possibly.  He  only  exhibited  his  stock  on  a  few  occasions,  and  those, 
in  time,  a  good  way  apart,  except  in  the  years  of  "  The  Royal "  in 
1839,  '40  and  '41,  when  he  was  highly  successful,  mainly  in  his 
Duchess  and  Oxford  animals. 

During  his  whole  cattle  breeding  career  Mr.  Bates  bought,  bred 
and  sold,  many  other  good  Short-horns,  with  an  eye  no  doubt  to 
profit,  for  we  cannot  well  conceive  his  philanthropy,  except  in  his 
Duchess  tribe,  to  extend  so  far  as  not  to  turn  his  labors  to  the  best 
advantage,  while  it  is  quite  certain  that  in  the  long-continued  breed- 
ing of  his  Duchess  tribe,  other  than  in  the  bulls  he  sold,  he  played  a 
losing  game  in  a  financial  way,  and  won  only  on  the  posthumous 
fame  with  which  his  name  will  long  be  remembered. 

One  important  item  connected  with  Mr.  Bates'  success  as  a  breeder 
should  not  be  omitted.  Instead  of  turning  his  stock  over  to  the 
exclusive  care  of  herdsmen,  as  is  the  practice  of  many  Short-horn 
breeders,  he  looked  carefully  over  them  himself — although  he  always 
had  one  or  more  herdsmen  to  do  his  bidding— -personally  saw  to  all 
their  wants,  and  knew  every  small  particular  relating  to  them.  He 
loved  his  cattle,  and  almost  made  companions  of  them.  They  would 
follow  him  all  around  the  fields  and  yards  when  he  went  in  to  look  at 
them.  He  would  fondle  them  lovingly,  talk  to  and  familiarly  pat 
and  caress  them,  while  they  in  return  would  rub  their  heads  along 
his  body,  legs,  and  arms,  lick  his  hands,  and  playfully  chew  the 
skirts  of  his  coat.  So  affectionately  would  they  hang  about  him 
while  he  was  among  them  that  his  herdsmen  could  not  drive  them. 
On  one  such  occasion  his  cowman  not  being  able  to  get  the  cattle 
away  from  Mr.  Bates,  and  getting  quite  irritated,  exclaimed:  "I 
wish  you'd  keep  out  aft'  way.  You  do  fa'  mair  ill  than  good,  for 
they  won't  leave  you,  and  there's  no  driving  them."* 

Mr.  Bates  had  another  peculiarity  which  accounted  for  his  usually 
having  a  superfluous  number  of  bulls  on  hand  which  he  did  not  use, 
or  but  seldom.  He  would  neither  sell,  nor  let  bulls,  except  to  parties 
who  had  first  class  cows  to  put  to  them,  remarking  that  the  bulls 
would  do  him  no  justice  when  bred  to  inferior  cows.  "  One  day  Mr. 

*  Bell's  History. 


COLORS    OF    THE    BATES    HERDS.  137 

Wetherell  selected  two  of  his  bulls  at  Kirkleavington,  which  Mr. 
Bates  said  he  would  sell  him.  Mr.  Bates  inquired  about  the  herd 
into  which  he,  Wetherell,  proposed  to  send  the  bulls.  The  latter 
asked,  in  reply,  *  of  what  consequence  is  that,  so  long  as  you  get  the 
money  for  them? '  Mr.  Bates  rejoined,  ''he  would  not  sell  any  man  a 
bull  unless  he  knew  the  herd  to  which  he  was  going,  for  if  the  cross  did 
not  answer,  all  the  blame  would  be  attributed  to  the  bull'  Mr.  Weth- 
erell, on  leaving,  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  his  opinion  in 
strong  terms  in  regard  to  Mr.  Bates  for  refusing  to  sell  his  cattle  at 
high  prices,  so  long  as  he  got  paid  for  them."*  There  have  been 
few  breeders,  we  fancy,  so  fastidious.  When  a  good  bargain  is  offered 
for  a  beast  they  wish  to  sell,  little  regard  is  paid  to  its  destiny. 

Much  more  might  be  here  related  of  Mr.  Bates  and  his  Short-horn 
career,  as  we  find  a  great  deal  written  by  him,  and  of  him,  in  sundry 
English  magazines  and  journals,  some  of  which  is  copied  into  Mr. 
Bell's  history.  Another  pleasant,  gossipy  writer,  "  Druid,"  whose  real 
name  was  Dixon,  now  deceased,  related  much  of  him  in  his  "  Saddle 
and  Sirloin,"  a  book  containing  various  desultory  information  about 
cattle  and  horse  breeders  in  England  within  the  last  thirty  years. 
But  they  would  add  little  to  the  substantial  fund  of  information  which 
we  have  already  given,  or  may  yet  give,  touching  the  Short-horns  and 
their  breeders ;  and  we  have  no  space  for  repetition  of  what  does  not 
immediately  concern  our  history;  nor  do  we  wish  to  overload  our 
pages  with  matter  tending  to  an  undue  exaltation  of  Mr.  Bates  and 
his  stock  over  other  breeders  and  their  stocks — equally  meritorious  in 
their  exertions  to  improve  the  quality  and  blood  of  their  herds. 

But,  it  is  time  we  close  with  Mr.  Bates.  His  character  has  been 
sketched,  faithfully,  as  we  trust,  as  a  man  of  unflinching  integrity  and 
stern  honesty  of  purpose ,  and  if  he  sometimes  indulged  in  undue 
partialities  towards  his  own,  and  unjust  prejudices  towards  the  stock 
of  rival  breeders,  in  which  the  fallibility  of  his  judgment  was  exposed, 
we  must  remember  that  both  he  and  his  herds  were  also  subjected  to 
the  attacks/and  criticisms  of  others,  which  may  have  tried  his  patience 
and  vexed  tois  temper. 

In  a  brief  memoir  of  Mr.  Bates,  highly  creditable  to  his  character, 
in  the  Farmers'  Magazine  for  the  year  1850,  the  writer  thus  closes: 
"  Active  in  mind,  temperate  in  his  habits,  nay,  I  may  say  abstemious, 
for  he  tasted  no  intoxicating  liquors  for  some  years  before  his  death, 
and  living  almost  in  the  open  air,  he  knew  little  of  disease,  and  seldom, 

*  Bell's  History.     It  is  not  so  stated,  but  we  infer  that  the  bulls  were  not  taken.— L.  F.  A. 


138  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

if  ever,  consulted  a  physician.  A  month  before  death,  however,  his 
health  began  to  fail,  a  disease  of  the  kidneys  became  painful  and 
harassing,  and  he  went  to  Redcar  to  try  the  effects  of  the  sea  air, 
but  which,  so  far  from  removing,  seemed  only  to  increase  the  malady. 
It  was  sometime  before  he  could  be  prevailed  on  to  -consult  a  med- 
ical adviser,  and  when  he  did  he  refused  the  greater  part  of  his 
medicine. 

"He  gradually  sunk  and  died  on  the  26th  day  of  July,  1849,  and 
was  buried  in  the  church-yard  at  Kirkleavington.  A  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory  by  a  few  friends  and  admirers  of  his  exertions 
in  stock  breeding,  with  the  following  inscription : 

THIS   MEMORIAL   OF 

THOMAS    BATES, 

OF   KIRKLEAVINGTON, 

ONE  OF  THE   MOST   DISTINGUISHED   BREEDERS   OF  SHORT-HORN   CATTLE, 

IS   RAISED    BY  A   FEW   FRIENDS   WHO   APPRECIATE   HIS   LABORS 

FOR  THE   IMPROVEMENT   OF   BRITISH   STOCK, 

AND   RESPECT    HIS    CHARACTER, 
BORN   2IST  JUNE,   1776— DIED   26TH  JULY,   1849."  * 

THE  SALE  OF  MR.  BATES'  HERD  AND  THEIR  ENGLISH  SUCCESSORS. 

Mr.  Bates  left  a  will  bequeathing  a  considerable  estate  principally 
to  two  or  three  nephews.  The  only  one  of  these  engaged  in  agri- 
culture was  settled  in  Germany,  and  had  no  time  or  opportunity  of 
attending  to  a  herd,  so  that  it  came  to  be  sold  on  the  pth  of  May, 
1850.  One  of  the  nephews  of  Mr.  Bates,  living  at  Heddon,  in  North- 
umberland, but  then  residing  in  London,  who  we  understand  was  a 
lawyer,  was  made  his  executor,  and  wound  up  the  estate,  a  valuable 
portion  of  which  lay  in  his  cattle  and  other  farm  stock.  There  were 
some  other  difficulties  we  have  learned,  arising  out  of  the  conditions 
of  the  will,  with  a  threat  by  some  of  the  dissatisfied  heirs,  to  throw  it 
into  chancery.  The  stock  was  expensive  to  keep,  and  troublesome, 
for  one  not  acquainted  with  it,  to  manage.  Added  to  these  embar- 
rassments, Short-horn  cattle  generally  were  low  in  price  at  the  time. 
Rival  breeders  also  had  their  eyes  upon  them,  and  hoped  to  drive 
good  bargains  at  the  sale ;  and  it  is  stated  that  Lord  Ducie,  who,  in 
the  event,  became  a  considerable  purchaser,  tried  an  underhanded 
scheme  for  a  part  of  it,  which,  however,  the  executor  detected  and 
foiled.  The  sale  had  been  widely  advertised,  and  as  might  be  sup- 
posed, the  final  disposition  of  the  herd  of  such  a  noted  breeder  drew 

*  Bell's  History. 


-SALES    OF    THE    BATES    HERDS.  139 

a  large  attendance.     The  animals  were  arranged  in  their  several  tribes, 
and  sold  as  follows : 

DUCHESS  TRIBE. 

4  Cows, ^"322    75. 

3  Heifers, 442    o 

1  Heifer  Calf, 162  15 

4  Bulls, 625  16 

2  Bull  Calves, 7512 

14  ^1627  10    Averaging  $581  each. 

Of  the  Duchess  females,  Lord  Ducie  bought  Duchess  55th,  5  years 
old,  at  $551 ;  59th,  2  years  old,  at  $1,050;  and  64th,  9  months  old, 
at  $813. 

Of  the  bulls,  the  same  gentleman  bought  4th  Duke  of  York  (10167), 
3  years  old,  at  $1,050. 

Grand  Duke  (10284),  2  years  old,  was  also  sold  for  $1,076. 

The  other  animals  of  the  tribe  were  sold  at  lesser  prices  to  different 
English  breeders. 

,  OXFORD  TRIBE. 

4  Cows, ^"288  153. 

2  Heifers, 95  II 

4  Heifer  Calves, 303    9 

3  Bulls, 206  17 


13  ^894  12     Averaging  $313  each. 

Of  the  Oxford  females,  Col.  Lewis  G.  Morris  of  Mt.  Fordham, 
N.  Y.,  U.  S.  A.,  bought  Oxford  5th,  5  years  old,  got  by  Duke  of 
Northumberland  (1940),  for  $370;  also  Oxford  loth,  16  months  old 
(daughter  to  Oxford  5th),  by  3d  Duke  of  York  (10166),  for  $267; 
and  Mr.  Noel  J.  Becar,  of  New  York,  bought  Oxford  i3th,  a  4  months' 
calf  of  Oxford  5th,  by  3d  Duke  of  York  (10166),  for  $330.  These 
cows  came  to-America,  and  proved  successful  breeders.  No  other 
animals  at  tpe  sale  were  then  purchased  by  any  Americans. 

V 

WATERLOO  TRIBE. 

2  Cows, £101  175. 

3  Heifers, 180  12 

i  Heifer  Calf, 74  n 

6  ^357  oo     Averaging  $297.50  each. 


140  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CAMBRIDGE  ROSE  TRIBE. 

i  Cow, £47    55. 

I  Heifer, 73  10 

i  Heifer  Calf, 26    5 


3  £147    o    Averaging  $245  each. 

WILD  EYES  TRIBE. 

9  Cows, ,£328  135. 

7  Heifers 430  10 

2  Heifer  Calves 64    i 

4  Bulls, 254    2 

3  Bull  Calves, 126    o 

25  ,£1203   6     Averaging  $241  each. 

Of  the  bulls  of  the  Wild  Eyes  tribe,  Balco  (9918)  [by  4th  Duke 
of  York  (16167)],  then  15  months  old,  sold  for  $813.  He  was  after- 
wards purchased  by  Col.  Morris,  of  Mt.  Fordham,  N.  Y.,  and  brought 
to  America. 

FOGGATHORPE   TRIBE. 

2  Cows, £  74  iis. 

I  Heifer  Calf, 31  10 

4  Bulls 222  12 

7  ^"328  13     Averaging  $235  each. 

Total  amount  of  sale,  68  animals,  ,£4,558  is.=$22,24O — average  $327  each. 

What  a  paltry  price  compared  with  what  their  descendants  would 
bring  now,  in  1872  ! 

For  a  herd  sustaining  the  reputation  which  it  had  acquired  under 
the  long-continued  management  of  Mr.  Bates,  aside  from  the  adverse 
circumstances  which  we  have  related,  the  above  prices  will  be  con- 
sidered remarkably  low ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  all  agricul- 
tural values  were  at  a  low  ebb  in  England,  and  cattle  of  the  better 
breeds  had  sunk  to  their  minimum  depression.  Mr.  Bates'  executor 
was  also  but  little  practiced  in  cattle  management,  and  the  herd  had 
been  measurably  neglected,  both  in  care  and  appearance,  from  what 
they  would  have  been  had  their  old  master  been  living.  Yet  most 
of  the  animals  fell  into  good  hands,  who  well  appreciated  their  value, 
and  in  the  space  of  a  few  years  rose  to  a  reputation,  and  brought 
prices  never  before  reached  in  England. 


LORD    DUCIE'S    BREEDING    AND    SALES.  141 


LORD  DUCIE'S  BREEDING  AND  SALES. 

While  we  have  the  herd  of  Mr.  Bates  in  hand  we  will  trace  its  history 
to  a  recent  day,  when  a  part  of  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  American 
successors.  We  have  seen  that  Earl  Ducie  bought  three  of  the 
female  Duchesses  and  one  of  the  bulls  at  the  Bates  sale.  He  also 
bought  two  of  the  female  Oxfords — 6th,  4  years  old,  and  nth,  9 
months  old,  at  $656  each.  These  animals  he  added  to  a  herd  he 
had  already  established,  of  superior  quality  and  excellence.  He  was 
a  gentleman  of  liberal  spirit  in  expenditure ;  enthusiastic  in  his  love 
of  good  stock;  and  determined  to  maintain  a  herd  of  Short-horns 
equal  to,  if  not  the  superior  of,  any  other  in  England.  He  purchased 
good  things  at  liberal  prices,  never  balking  at  the  money  value  when 
the  creature  suited  him.  His  health,  however,  was  delicate,  and  he 
lived  but  about  two  years  after  the  sale  of  Mr.  Bates'  herd.  Mean- 
time he  had  bred  his  stock'with  marked  judgment  and  success;  the 
value  of  good  Short-horns  had  rapidly  advanced,  and  the  reputation 
of  the  "  Bates  "  stock — particularly  the  Duchess  and  Oxfords — had 
increased  in  public  favor,  so  that  when  in  the  month  of  August,  1852, 
Lord  Ducie's  executors  made  a  sale  of  his  entire  herd,  the  occasion 
brought  together  an  array-of  breeders  such  as  had  not  been  gathered 
in  England  on  any  like  occasion  since  the  days  of  the  Collings.  The 
sale  had  been  for  some  time  announced,  and  several  American  gen- 
tlemen crossed  the  ocean  for  the  purpose  of  attending  it  and  making 
purchases,  expecting  to  compete  with  the  elite  of  England's  breeders 
if  successful  in  effecting  them.  Nor  were  the  Americans  mistaken. 
They  did  meet  the  English  breeders  on  their  own  soil,  outbid  and 
outpurchased  them  of  some  of  the  best  animals  in  the  herd,  as 
follows : 

Mr.  Samuel  Thorne,  of  Thorndale,  New  York,  bought  the  cows 
Duchess  59th,  by  2d  Duke  of  Oxford  (9046),  5  years  old,  for  $1,837 ; 
Duchess  64th,  by  2d  Duke  of  Oxford  (9046),  4  years  old,  for  $3,150; 
Duchess  68tl^by  Duke  of  Gloster  (11382),  i  year  old,  for  $1,575. 

(Duchess  u>8th  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  a  mast  on  shipboard, 
while  on  her  passage  to  America.) 

Messrs.  L.  G.  Morris  and  N.  J.  Becar,  of  New  York,  purchased  the 
cow  Duchess  66th,  3  years  old,  for  $3,675,  and  she  (Duchess  66th) 
was  the  only  one  of  the  Duchess  tribe  coming  to  America  which 
left  any  female  descendants  now  living.  These  gentlemen  also  pur- 
chased the  bull  Duke  of  Gloster,  2763  (11382),  3  years  old,  for  $3,412. 


142  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Mr.  Thome  also  purchased  of  Mr.  Bolden  the  bull  Grand  Duke, 
545  (10284),  formerly  sold  at  Mr.  Bates'  sale  in  1850,  for  $5,000,  and 
brought  him  to  America  with  his  other  purchases.  A  few  years  after- 
wards Grand  Duke  becoming  disabled,  Mr.  Thorne  also  purchased 
2d  Grand  Duke,  2181  (112961),  bred  by  Earl  Ducie,  at  the  price  of 
$5,000,  and  brought  him  to  America. 

Mr.  George  Vail,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  Gen.  George  Cadwallader, 
of  Philadelphia,  purchased  the  bull  4th  Duke  of  York  (10167),  6 
years  old,  at  $2,625,  but  ne  unfortunately  died  on  his  passage  across 
the  ocean. 

The  other  animals  of  the  Duchess,  Oxford,  and  other  tribes,  passed 
into  the  hands  of  various  English  breeders.  Several  of  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Duchess  have  since  come  to  America ;  among  them  one 
bull,  Duke  of  Airdrie,  9798  (12730),  and  his  dam,  Duchess  of  Atholl, 
by  2d  Duke  of  Oxford  (9046),  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  R.  A.  Alexander, 
in  Kentucky,  and  three  heifers,  Duchess  97th,  loist  and  io3d,  to  Mr. 
M.  H.  Cochrane,  Compton,  Province  of  Quebec,  (Lower  Canada.) 
Of  the  Oxfords,  one,  Grand  Duke  of  Oxford,  3988  (16184),  was 
imported  by  Mr.  Sheldon,  Geneva,  N.  Y.  Of  the  Duchess  and  Oxford 
females,  there  are  now  in  England  and  America,  some  scores  in  num- 
ber. The  females  are  held  in  but  few  hands  in  England,  and  a  less 
number  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  The  bulls,  however,  have 
been  widely  scattered,  and  sold  at  prices  commensurate  with  the 
values  which  breeders  partial  to  their  blood  place  upon  their  merits. 

The  sale  of  Lord  Ducie's  herd  was  the  highest  in  price  which  had 
taken  place  since  that  of  Charles  Colling  in  the  year  1810,  but  rela- 
tively to  agricultural  prices  in  England  at  the  two  periods  (Colling's 
at  a  time  of  great  inflation,  and  Lord  Ducie's  at  a  time  of  compara- 
tive depression),  the  latter  sale  was  by  far  the  highest,  averaging  $700 
per  head  for  49  cows,  heifers,  and  heifer  calves,  and  $959  each  for  13 
bulls,  making  for  the  62  animals- the  round  sum  of  $46,809,  an  aver- 
age of  $723  each,  within  a  fraction. 

To  follow  in  detail  the  result,  separately,  of  the  Duchess  and 
Oxford  tribes,  at  Lord  Ducie's  sale,  we  give  a  synopsis  of  each : 
8  Duchesses  (females)  sold  for  ^3, 212  ics.  5d.,  averaging  nearly 
$2,008  each;  4  Oxfords  (females)  sold  for  ^876  155.,  averaging 
nearly  $1,096  each. 

In  addition  to  these  were  the  before  named  Duke  of  Gloster,  at 
^682  los.  ($3,412),  and  4th  Duke  of  York,  at  ^523  ($2,625),  and 
5th  Duke  of  Oxford  to  Lord  Feversham,  at  ^315  or  $1,575. 


LORD    DUCIE'S    BREEDING    AND    SALES.          143 

Mr.  Bell  tells  a  story  of  Lord  Ducie  after  the  purchase  of  4th 
Duke  of  York  (10167),  at  the  Bates  sale,  which  is  so  characteristic 
of  the  monopolizing  spirit  of  some  of  the  English  Short-horn  breed- 
ers, that  we  suppose  it  to  be  true.  "  He  sent  his  agent  out  to  buy  the 
bull  3d  Duke  of  York  (10166)  (a  Duchess  bull),  then  in  other  hands, 
that  he  might  slaughter  him  [Bates  fashion],  and  prevent  his  blood 
being  used  by  other  breeders,  in  which  he  succeeded,  and  had  the 
bull  remorselessly  killed,  thus  supposing  he  had  secured  to  himself, 
in  his  own  4th  Duke  of  York,  the  only  remaining  one  of  the  blood ; 
but  meeting  Mr.  Tanqueray  shortly  after,  in  London,  his  Lordship 
asked  him  what  he  was  doing  in  the  Short-horn  line ;  to  which  Tan- 
queray replied,  'I  have  just  come  into  possession  of  5th  Duke  of 
York  (10168).'  With  evident  chagrin  Ducie  answered,  'I  had  lost 
sight  of  him' "  So  his  barbarity,  as  well  as  selfishness,  in  sacrificing 
a  noble  beast  was  thus  signally  punished. 


144  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

MR.  BATES'  INFLUENCE  ON  THE  SHORT-HORNS — DID  HE  IMPROVE 

THEM  ? 

THAT  a  sagacious,  intelligent  man,  devoting  nearly  sixty  years  of 
an  active  life  to  the  breeding  of  a  favorite  race  of  animals,  divested 
of  family  cares,  enthusiastically  attached  to  his  stock,  selecting  his 
original  herd  from  the  best  blood  of  the  country,  and  concentrating 
all  the  energies  and  skill  at  his  command  to  their  highest  develop- 
ment, should  not  succeed  in  improving  their  qualities  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  would  prove  him  to  be  a  dullard,  or  that  he  worked  upon 
a  race  of  animals  incapable  of  any  further  development.  Neither  of 
these  conclusions  will  be  credited  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Bates,  or 
charged  to  the  qualities  of  so  fine  a  race  of  cattle  as  the  Short-horns. 
During  his  life  no  one  had  greater  opportunities  to  know  the  origin 
and  lineage  of  every  noted  Short-horn  in  England.  In  his  younger 
days  he  was  contemporary,  acquainted  with,  and  on  friendly  terms 
with  most,  if  not  all,  the  substantial  and  reputable  breeders  of  the 
country,  and  after  the  Collings  had  retired  no  one  probably  knew  the 
pedigrees  of  the  earlier  herds  of  the  country  any  better  than,  if  so 
well  as,  himself.  In  his  own  private  copy  of  the  first  volume  of 
Coates'  Herd  Book,  he  made  extended  notes  of  the  ancestry  of  many 
of  the  earlier  cattle  therein  recorded,  beyond  what  the  printed  pedi- 
grees contained,  and  these  notes,  of  the  bulls,  we  have  had  the  privi- 
lege of  copying  into  our  own.  At  the  close  of  his  life  he  probably 
knew  more  about  Short-horns  than  any  man  in  England.  He  had 
seen  Hubback,  Foljambe,  Bolingbroke,  Favorite,  and  Comet,  and 
many  of  their  contemporaries,  male  and  female,  together  with  the  other 
most  noted  bulls  and  cows  of  his  time.  He  had  been  intimate 
with  the  herds  of  the  Maynards,  the  Wetherells,  the  Booths,  the 
Wrights,  the  Charges,  the  Masons,  the  Hutchinsons,  as  well  as  their 
many  younger  contemporaries.  He  knew  the  superior  as  well  as 
inferior  qualities  which  their  herds  possessed.  Probably  no  man  in 
England  was  a  better  judge  of  cattle  than  he,  and  at  his  death  he  left 


THE    BATES    IMPROVEMENT.  145 

a  herd  which  challenged  the  admiration  of  numerous  Short-horn 
breeders  on  both  sides  the  Atlantic — and  that  admiration  has  not 
abated  with  the  increasing  generations  of  their  progeny.  In  this 
assertion  we  know  we  are  trenching  on  delicate,  if  not  debatable 
ground.  Yet  the  prices  which  they  have  brought  for  many  years 
past,  and  still  bring,  bear  indisputable  evidence  of  the  fact,  whether 
those  prices  are  based  on  sound  judgment,  or  fancy  only.  We  do 
not  assert  that  for  general  practical  uses  the  Bates  stock  are  really 
better  than  very  many  animals  of  more  miscellaneously,  yet  well-bred 
herds,  but  in  their  deeply  concentrated  blood  giving  it  the  power  of 
transmission  into  others,  they  are  much  admired  and  widely  sought. 

On  Mr.  Bates'  death  the  animals  of  his  most  cherished  blood  were 
quickly  appropriated  by  a  few  who  had  long  been  partial  to  their 
merits,  and  wielded  purses  to  command  their  possession.  ^200  to 
^"300  ($1,000  to  $1,500)  would  then  buy  any  Short-horn  in  England. 
Three  years  afterwards  it  cost  ;£6oo  to  ^"1,000  ($3,000  to  $5^000)  as 
we  have  seen,  to  buy  the  same  animals,  or  their  produce,  in  close 
competition  between  Englishmen  and  Americans,  and  prices  both  in 
England  and  America  have  since  ranged  even  higher  for  both  bulls 
and  cows  of  favorite  strains  of  their  blood. 

The  above  remarks  are  made  with  no  invidious  reflection  upon 
the  valuable  stock  of  other  breeders,  or  their  herds.  There  are  many 
herds,  as  well  as  individual  animals,  both  in  England  and  America, 
of  the  highest  excellence;  but  with  the  exception  of  the  Booths, 
there  has  been  no  herd  of  Short-horns  so  closely  interbred  as  that  of 
Mr.  Bates,  and  containing  so  strong  and  deep  a  concentration  of 
blood,  and  the  bulls  from  which  have  stamped  more  strikingly  their 
several  individualities  upon  stranger  herds.  Not  that  these  cattle  in 
themselves  shew  such  marked  superiority  over  many  others,  but  from 
their  long  compacted  genealogy  and  careful  breeding,  they  impress 
their  own  characteristics  upon  their  progeny  in  a  greater  degree  than 
others  which,  through  their  divergent  crosses,  have  not  been  so  com- 
pactly bred.  Hefice  their  highly  estimated  value,  as  certified  by  the 
auctioneer's  hammer,  as  well  as  in  private  sales.  Let  the  public,  if 
they  will,  call  men  fools,  or  enthusiasts,  who  pay  those  exhorbitant 
prices,  but'  when  we  see  veteran  breeders,  life-long  in  the  pursuit,  as 
well  as  those  of  less  experience,  doing  so,  it  may  well  be  supposed 
there  is  something  in  it  beyond  mere  assumption,  caprice  or  fancy. 
Who  in  England  ever  produced  such  bulls  with  their  in-and-in  bred 
crosses  as,  early  in  this  century,  did  Charles  Colling  in  Comet  (155), 
by  Favorite ;  thirty  years  later,  as  did  Bates  in  Duke  of  Northumber- 
10 


146  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

land  (1940),  by  Belvedere;  or,  still  thirty  years  afterwards,  as  did 
Richard  Booth,  culminating  in  Commander-in-Chief  (21452),  by 
Velasco — and  all  of  them  with  cows  to  match  ?  And  yet,  with  all 
this  emphasis,  we  do  not  say  that  there  have  not  since  been  equally 
good  bulls  as  these,  and  cows  also,  bred  in  both  England  and  Amer- 
ica; but  they  have  not  yet  achieved  the  notoriety  of  the  others, 
although  a  future  day  may  prove  that  some  of  them  do  excel  even 
Comet,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  or  Commander-in-Chief. 

The  critical  reader  may  here  make  a  note,  and  accuse  us  of  writ- 
ing up  the  Bates  and  Booth  blood  of  cattle.  Not  a  word  of  it.  We 
only  state  facts  that  cannot  and  will  not,  on  mature  examination,  be 
contradicted.  Almost  every  herd  of  note,  in  either  England  or 
America,  has  more  or  less  of  thfce  bloods  in  their  veins.  In  no  well- 
bred  Short-horns  whatever  can  be  traced  so  many  crosses  back  as 
into  the  bull  Favorite  (252),  bred  by  Charles  Colling.  His  blood  was 
the  foundation  of  the  bulls  of  the  elder  Booth,  afterwards  of  Bates, 
in  both  bulls  and  cows,  and  also  many  other  of  the  contemporary, 
and  through  them  of  numerous  later  English  and  American  herds. 
Let  the  pedigrees  be  traced  and  the  fact  will  so  prove. 

If  the  brothers  Colling,  one  in  his  thirty,  and  the  other  in  his  forty 
years'  career  of  breeding,  were  pronounced  by  their  contemporaries 
to  be  "improvers,"  why  not  the  elder  Booths  and  Bates,  Mason,  Lord 
Althorpe,  and  numerous  others  of  the  elder,  and  their  younger  fol- 
lowers, making  their  original  selections  from  the  Colling  bloods,  and 
appropriating  the  best  cows  they  could  secure  from  others,  and  breed- 
ing them  with  skill,  adhering  almost  throughout  to  the  original  blood, 
and  their  better  qualities  have  been  improvers  also  ?  Charles  Colling 
may  not,  during  his  life-time,  have  bred  a  finer  one  than  the  Stanwick 
Cow  (his  original  Duchess),  or  the  "  beautiful  Lady  Maynard  " — as 
he  himself  acknowledged — which  he  bought  of  his  elder  contempo- 
rary, Mr.  Maynard ;  but  he  had  the  sagacity  to  keep  their  blood  as 
compact  as  possible  by  breeding  in-and-in  their  progeny  to  a  depth 
and  endurance  which  stamped  it  almost  in  perpetuity  through  the 
successive  bulls  and  heifers  proceeding  from  them,  thus  transmitting 
their  qualities  down  to  present  generations.  The  elder  Booth  copy- 
ing from  him,  and  procuring  Colling  bulls,  which  he  used  upon  cows 
of  his  own  selection  for  their  superior  merits  from  other  breeders,  did 
the  same,  and  so  following,  did  Bates,  only  that  the  latter  had  the 
good  fortune  to  obtain  some  of  the  Colling  cows,  which  Booth  did 
not ;  the  latter,  as  we  have  already  stated,  selecting  his  original  cows 
from  neighboring  herds,  looking  only  to  their  good  qualities,  without 


•P 


STYLES  OF  BATES  AND  BOOTH  CATTLE.    147 

any  regard  to  pedigree,  other  than  the  fact  that  they  were  true  Short- 
horns. Thus  his  pedigrees  ending  in  such  cows  are  shorter  than 
those  of  the  Bates'  Duchesses,  as  well  as  of  several  other  breeders 
whose  pedigrees  run  back  to  the  earliest  Short-horn  records. 

Still,  with  all  their  excellencies  of  quality,  the  styles  of  the  Booth, 
and  Bates,  and  some  other  herds  have  been  and  are  still  different  in 
some  of  their  valuable  as  well  as  fancy  points.  Each  one  adopted 
his  own  standard  of  excellence,  each  strived  to  attain  it,  and  both  of 
them  succeeded  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  We  do  not  propose  to 
institute  a  comparison  of  their  qualities.  Rivalries  and  competitions 
ran  high  between  the  elder  Booths,  Bates,  Mason,  and  other  of  the  elder 
breeders  while  living,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  equal  rivalries  and 
competition  may  now  exist  among  the  admirers  of  their  different 
bloods,  as  well  as  in  the  bloods  of  other  distinguished  breeders.  It 
is  a  noble,  a  praiseworthy  competition,  and  so  long  as  honorably  con- 
ducted, altogether  commendable. 


148  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE   ELDER   SHORT-HORN   BREEDERS  CONTEMPORARY   WITH   THE 
COLLINGS  AND  THEIR  IMMEDIATE  SUCCESSORS. 

OF  the  elder  breeders,  we  regret  that  no  clear  history  of  their 
labors  reach  us  except  incidentally,  as  we  find  occasional  references 
to  them  in  the  scanty  agricultural  publications  of  their  day,  and  trace 
the  pedigrees  of  their  stocks  in  the  earlier  volumes  of  the  English 
Herd  Books.  John  Maynard  was  the  senior  of  the  Ceilings  in  breed- 
ing, Charles  having  bought  in  1786  or  '7,  his  cows  Lady  Maynard, 
and  her  daughter,  Young  Strawberry,  from  Maynard's  herd.  There 
were  the  Blackets,  the  Aislabies,  the  Milbanks,  the  Pennymans,  the 
elder  Stevenson,  and  others,  anterior  to  the  Collmgs,  whose  names 
have  been  incidentally  mentioned  in  our  previous  pages,  who  bred 
famous  cattle,  but  of  them  we  have  been  able  to  glean  few  particu- 
lars. The  first  volume  of  the  English  Herd  Book,  published  in  1822, 
contained  the  names  of  but  about  one  hundred  and  forty  breeders, 
including  the  Collings,  Booths,  and  Thomas  Bates. 

Among  the  immediate  contemporaries  of  the  Collings,  and  the  elder 
Booth,  was  Christopher  Mason,  of  Chilton.  He  bred  largely,  pos- 
sessed a  valuable  herd,  purchased  and  used  bulls  from  the  Collings, 
and  many  noted  animals  of  the  present  day  are  found  descended 
from  his  stock.  He  was  among  the  first  class  breeders  of  his  time, 
and  made  a  large,  if  not  final  sale  of  his  herd  in  the  year  1829,  of 
which  Lord  Althorpe  (afterwards  Earl  Spencer)  purchased  quite  a 
number.  The  larger  breeders,  whose  names  are  in  the  first  Herd 
Book,  aside  from  those  already  named,  were  Lord  Althorpe,  of 
Wiseton ;  Messrs.  Alderson,  of  Ferrybridge ;  Bower,  of  Welham ;  Cham- 
pion, of  Blythe ;  Charge,  of  Newton ;  Coates  (first  editor  of  the  Herd 
Book),  of  Carlton ;  Compton,  of  Northumberland ;  Curwen,  of  Cum- 
berland; Earnshaw,  of  Ferrybridge;  Gibson,  of  Northumberland; 
Hutchinson,  of  Stockton ;  Hustler,  of  Acklam ;  Ibetson,  of  Denton 

Park ;  William  Jobling,  of ;  Anthony  Maynard,  of  Morton-le- 

Moor ;  J.  C.  Maynard,  of  Harlsey ;  Col.  Mellish,  of ;  Ostler,  of 


THE    EARLIER    AND    LATER    BREEDERS.  149 

Audley ;  Parker,  of  Sutton  House ;  Parrington,  of  Middlesbro' ;  Rob- 
ertson, of  Ladykirk ;  Rudd,  of  Marton ;  Seymour,  of  Woodhouse 
Close ;  Simpson,  of  Babworth ;  Smith,  of  Dishley ;  Spoors,  of  North- 
umberland; Sir  Henry  Vane  Tempest,  of  Wynyard;  Thomas,  of 

Chesterfield;  Col.  Trotter,  of ;  Wiles,  of  Bearl;  Wetherell,  of 

Kirkby-Malery ;  Whitaker,  of  Greenholme ;  White,  of  Loughborough ; 
Wright,  of ,  and  Wright,  of  Cleasby. 

Aside  from  the  above  list  appear  the  names  of  many  small  breed- 
ers, some  with  only  one,  and  others  representing  only  a  few  pedigrees 
each. 

All  the  breeders  above  named  reared  and  sold  animals  of  repute, 
and  many  of  them  of  marked  distinction.  We  can  name  but  a  few 
of  the  sales  that  were  made  and  the  prices  their  animals  brought ; 
and  even  those  we  can  name  are  found  only  in  fragmentary  reports 
given  in  the  agricultural  journals  of  the  time,  or  since  recorded  on 
the  recollection  of  contemporary  breeders.  Some  of  the  older  ones 
of  these  breeders  sold  cattle"  to  the  Ceilings ;  other  younger  ones 
obtained  some  of  their  animals  from  the  Collings,  either  directly,  by 
purchase,  or  indirectly  by  hiring  their  bulls. 

At  the  time  of  Lord  Althorpe's  death,  in  184-,  his  herd  numbered 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  His  legatee,  Mr.  Hall  (the  cattle  hav- 
ing been  left  to  him),  soon  afterwards  disposed  of  them  at  public  sale. 
One  bull  brought  400  guineas  ($2,100),  another  370  guineas  ($1,942), 
and  some  of  the  cows  200  guineas  ($1,050)  each. 

Lord  Althorpe  (afterwards  Earl  Spencer)  was  a  liberal  breeder, 
and  enthusiastic  in  his  attachment  to  the  Short-horns.  He  many 
years  kept,  and  had  at  his  decease,  probably  the  largest  herd  in  Eng- 
land. He  was  a  bachelor,  or  if  married,  left  no  children,  and  his 
estate  and  title  descended  to  his  brother,  who  had  no  taste  for  cattle, 
which  is  probably  the  reason  why  the  elder  brother  gave  his  herd  to 
Mr.  Hal}_  Lord  Althorpe  corresponded  frequently  with  Mr.  Bates, 
visited/him  at  his  home  and  bought  some  cattle  of  him.  With  how 
much  gkill  his  Lordship  bred  his  animals  we  are  not  informed,  although 
he  paid  much  personal  attention  to  them  during  the  leisure  time  he 
could  withdraw  from  state  affairs.  As  we  find  many  excellent  Short- 
horns which  trace  their  pedigrees  into  his  herd,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  he  bred  many  first  class  animals. 

Mr.  Jonas  Whitaker,  of  Greenholme,  Otley,  although  a  large  cotton 
manufacturer,  was  an  extensive  breeder,  and  had  many  fine  cattle. 
All,  or  nearly  all,  of  our  American  Col.  Powel's  importations  in  the  year 
1824,  and  afterwards,  came  from  Mr.Whitaker's  favorite  tribes,  together 


150  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

with  many  others  afterwards  purchased  by  American  breeders  and 
brought  to  the  United  States. 

Sometime  after  the  sale  of  Robert  Colling,  Col.  Trotter,  who  was  a 
purchaser  there,  sold  three  cows  from  that  stock  to  Col.  Hellish  for 
^2,210,  equal  to  $3,683  each.  Col.  Hellish  afterwards  sold  one  of 
them  to  Hajor  Bower,  of  Welham,  for  800  guineas  ($4,200). 

In  view  of  such  authenticated  sales  we  can  have  no  doubt  that 
many  of  the  successors  of  the  Collings,  the  elder  Booth,  Haynard, 
Wetherell,  and  their  contemporaries,  sold  many  choice  animals  at 
extraordinary  prices,  showing  the  right  estimate  still  maintained  of 
their  excellence.  We  regret  that  we  have  been  confined  to  such  a 
limited  early  account  of  individual  sales.  Yet  if  we  had  them  it 
would  hardly  be  necessary  to  multiply  the  many  decided  evidences 
of  Short-horn  values. 

Succeeding  the  efforts  of  the  Collings  and  their  contemporary 
breeders,  the  merits  of  the  Short-horns  gained  widely  in  public  esti- 
mation and  popularity,  not  only  in  the  counties  comprising  their 
ancient  homes,  but  they  were  eagerly  sought  by  the  larger  land-owners 
among  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  neighboring,  and  even  distant  coun- 
ties, as  well  as  tenant  farmers — the  former  to  encourage  the  improve- 
ment of  the  breeds  of  neat  cattle  on  their  estates  at  large,  and  the 
latter  to  improve  and  render  more  valuable  their  own  individual 
herds  as  the  most  profitable  stock  they  could  rear.  Thus  the  number 
of  pure-bred  animals  increased  in  a  more  rapid  ratio  than  ever 
before,  while  their  crosses  upon  the  common  and  baser  breeds  multi- 
plied indefinitely,  both  as  grazing  and  dairy  stock. 

It  would  be  an  exhausting,  if  not  impossible  labor,  to  enumerate 
all  the  various  breeders  of  established  Short-horn  blood  in  Great 
Britain  since  the  days  of  the  Collings.  The  names  of  the  most  prom- 
inent among  their  contemporaries,  and  immediate  successors,  have 
already  been  given,  and  for  those  who  have  since  entered  the  ranks 
the  pages  of  the  English  Herd  Book  must  be  examined.  But  to 
show  their  extent,  these  breeders  can  be  numbered  by  many  hundreds, 
among  them  the  Royal  household,  every  order  of  nobility — titled 
women  as  well — and  descending  in  rank  through  every  intermediate 
class  of  ownership  to  the  well-to-do  tenant  farmer.  Not  that  we 
ignore  other  valuable  breeds  of  cattle  which,  from  time  immemorial, 
have  existed  in  Britain  and  elsewhere,  and  have  maintained  and 
still  maintain  their  advocates  and  breeders ;  nor  do  we  claim  a  univer- 
sal favor  towards  the  Short-horns  beyond  all  others ;  but  they  have 
developed  such  prominent  qualities  of  excellence  as  to  render  them 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS.          I$I 

beyond  any  other  breed,  both  in  pure  bloods  and  grades,  the  now 
most  widely  predominating  stock  of  any  distinct  race  of  cattle. 
Never  were  the  prices  paid  for  choice  animals  in  England  so  high 
as  now,  and  never  were  animals  of  choice  and  fashionable  blood 
so  eagerly  sought.  For  many  years  past  they  have,  in  large  numbers, 
been  exported  to  the  neighboring  continent  and  to  various  English 
colonies — in  the  latter,  mostly  to  Australia  and  the  Canadas — while 
men  in  the  United  States  for  fifty  years  past  have  purchased  and  brought 
out  hundreds  of  their  choicest  breeding,  and  still  are  annually  draw- 
ing from  the  British  herds  their  most  cherished  blood.  Strangest  of 
all,  English  breeders  are  now  almost  annually  sending  to  America  to 
purchase  and  take  home  to  the  land  of  their  ancestors  some  of  the 
descendants  of  the  cattle  which  years  ago  they  parted  with,  declaring 
in  such  instances,  a  positive  improvement  over  many  of  their  own 
animals  which  they  kept  at  home.  And  this  improvement  in  the 
American  cattle  they  consider  derived  from  our  fresher  pastures  and 
the  skill  with  which  they  have  been  bred.  Such  a  concession  may 
be  considered  no  mean  tribute  to  the  enterprise  of  our  American 
breeders !  Thus,  for  the  present,  we  take  leave  of  the  Short-horns 
in  England,  and  proceed  to  their  successors  in  America. 


PART    SECOND. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

THE  SHORT-HORNS  IN  AMERICA. 

THE  date  of  the  first  arrival  of  purely-bred  Short-horns  in  the 
United  States  is  uncertain.  Tradition  has  informed  us  that  a  few 
Short-horn  cattle  were  introduced  here  from  England  soon  after  the 
Revolutionary  \%r,  which  separated  the  American  colonies  from  the 
mother  country,  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  two  countries  being 
made  in  the  year  1783.  We  have  no  recorded  evidence  of  the  fact 
from  any  printed  chronicles  of  the  time,  although  men  not  long  ago 
living,  and  some  still  alive,  have  stated  on  what  they  believed  good 
authority,  that  such  was  the  fact.  The  best  evidence  at  our  command 
will  be  given,  and  if  it  be  not  such  as  will  commend  the  purity  of  the 
blood  of  these  animals  to  breeders  of  good  Short-horns  at  the  present 
day,  they  will  at  least  have  the  benefit  of  what  knowledge  exists,  and 
draw  their  conclusions  as  best  they  may  from  the  material  which  we 
have  gathered. 

We  have  also  heard  that  about  the  year  1775  a  Mr.  Heaton 
emigrated  from  EnglantU-to^New  York,  then  a  provincial  city,  and 
followed  for  some  years  the  occupation  of  a  butcher.  It  is  also  said 
that  in  1791  he  returned  to  England  and  brought  back  with  him  sev- 
eral Short-horn  cattle  from  the  herd  of  George  Culley,  a  cattle  breeder 
living  near  Grindon,  in  Northumberland.  He  was  probably  induced 
to  this  enterprise  by  knowing  the  deficiencies  of  the  common  cattle 
then  bred  in  the  United  States,  which,  in  his  mind,  and  truly  so,  much 
needed  the  improvement  which  the  Short-horn  blood  could  impart  to 
them.  What  became  of  the  cattle,  neither  tradition  nor  written  his- 
tory of  the  day  give  us  an  account ;  but  it  may  be  supposed  that  the 

155 


156  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

males  and  females  were  bred  to  some  extent  among  themselves,  and 
that  the  bulls  were  also  bred  upon  the  common  cows  in  the  places 
where  they  were  kept.  In  1796  it  is  further  stated  that  Mr.  Heaton 
went  again  to  England  and  brought  out  a  bull  and  cow  which  he 
bought  from  one  of  the  brothers  Colling  and  took  them  to  his  farm  in 
Westchester  county,  N.  Y.,  where  he  then  resided.  It  may  be  sup- 
posed that  the  Short-horns  which  he  had  previously  imported  had 
been  taken  to  that  place  also,  but  of  the  fact  we  have  no  verified 
account. 

What  finally  became  of  the  animals  and  their  produce  which  Heaton 
brought  out,  nothing  definite  is  known,  only  that  some  superior  cattle 
were  many  years  kept  and  known  in  Westchester  county,  N.  Y.,  after 
the  present  century  came  in,  but  no  pedigrees  of  them  have  been 
traced  except  in  one  or  two  instances  through  "Brisbane's  bull," 
which  was  purchased  of  Mr.  Heaton  by  the  late  Mr.  James  Brisbane, 
of  Batavia,  N.  Y.,  and  brought  there  by  him  in  the  early  years  of  this 
century.  The  bull  left  much  valuable  stock  in  the  vicinity  of  Batavia, 
and  was  supposed  to  be  a  thorough-bred  Short-horn.  Of  the  Heaton 
stock,  retained  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  nothing  further  is  cer- 
tainly known.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  people  of  that 
vicinity  knowing  little  of  either  breeds,  or  blood  cattle  in  those  days, 
let  the  stock  "  run  out,"  and  they  became  lost  in  the  common  herds 
of  the  country. 

THE  GOUGH  (OR  GOFF)  AND  MILLER  IMPORTATIONS  OF  THE  LAST 

CENTURY. 

We  now  enter  on  debatable  ground — a  subject  which  has  elicited 
more  controversy  touching  the  blood  of  early  American  Short-horns 
than  any  other  which  has  arisen  in  this  country  for  the  past  fifty 
years  by  those  interested,  and  the  animals  of  whose  herds  have  been 
more  directly  or  remotely  related  to  them.  We  do  not  suppose  that 
anything  we  may  introduce  by  way  of  testimony  will  decide  the 
question  to  any  exact  degree  of  certainty.  Yet  the  facts  connected 
with  them  are  important  to  be  known  by  all  Short-horn  breeders  who 
*ake  an  interest  in  the  matter ;  and  from  them  every  reader  may  draw 
his  own  conclusions.  We  do  not  propose  to  settle  any  question  of 
blood  by  what  we  may  submit,  but  simply  to  relate  history  so  far  as 
we  have  been  able,  by  diligent  search,  to  ascertain  it. 

There  have  been  several  published  accounts  of  these  early  impor- 
tations, differing  somewhat  in  date,  which  is  of  little  consequence ; 


GOUGH    AND    MILLER    IMPORTATIONS.  157' 

but,  of  more  consequence,  differing  in  the  breeds  of  the  cattle  so 
imported.  As  they  took  place  nearly  ninety,  and  down  to  about 
eighty  years  ago,  the  accounts  given  of  them  were  for  many  years 
only  of  oral  transmission,  and  perhaps  of  somewhat  imperfect  recol- 
lection by  the  several  parties  relating  them.  We  find  these  accounts 
recorded  in  print  only  after  the  years  1835  to  1840,  at  a  lapse  of 
nearly  or  quite  half  a  century  after  the  importations  occurred,  when 
probably  the  importers  of  the  original  stock  as  well  as  some  of  the 
owners  of  a  portion  of  the  descendants  of  the  originals  had  passed 
off  the  stage  of  action.  Yet  some  of  their  survivors,  venerable  in 
age  and  character  in  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  still  remain,  whose  recol- 
lections run  into  the  earlier  years  of  the  present  century,  and  from 
these  several  accounts  our  history  is  drawn. 

According  to  these  accounts  in  the  year  1783  a  Mr.  Miller,  of  Vir- 
ginia, in  connection  with  Mr.  Gough,  made  an  importation — into 
Baltimore  (probably) — of  some  English  cattle,  of  two  different  breeds. 
We  infer  that  the  cattle  were  taken  into  the  fine  grazing  section  of 
Northern  Virginia,  in  the  valley  of  the  South  branch  of  the  Potomac 
river,  where  they  were  bred  together,  as  well  as  the  bulls  bred  to  the 
native  cows  of  the  country.  They  were  designated,  one  as  the 
"Milk  breed,"  the  other  as  the  "Beef  breed."  The  former  were 
described  as  having  short  horns,  heavy  carcasses,  compact  in  shape, 
red,  red  and  white,  and  roan  in  color,  the  cows  excellent  milkers — in 
all  probability,  Short-horns.  The  latter  were  longer  horned,  rangy  in 
form,  fatted  well  at  maturity,  not  so  smoothly  built  as  the  others,  and 
the  cows  producing  less  milk  than  the  others.  These  were,  prob- 
ably, the  old  fashioned,  unimproved  stock,  coarser  and  rougher 
in  appearance,  but  still  of  the  Short-horn  race  then  common  in  the 
Holderness  district  of  Yorkshire.  Sometime  afterwards  one,  or  both, 
of  the  previously  named  gentlemen — whether  in  conjunction,  or  sep- 
arately, is  not  r^aj;eo> — about  the  years  1790  to  1795,  made  other 
importations  of  nearly  the  same  classes  of  cattle,  a  part  of,  or  all  of 
which,  probably  went  into  the  South  branch  valley,  or  elsewhere  not 
far  distant  from  the  first  importation.  We  hear  nothing  of  these 
cattle  or  their  descendants  as  Virginia  stock ;  but  two  years  after  the 
first  importation,  in  the  year  1785,  two  sons,  and  a  son-in-law  (Mr 
Gay)  of  Mr.  Matthew  Patton,  then  a  resident  of  Virginia,  took  into 
Clark  county,  Kentucky  (as  related  by  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Mentin,  still 
living  there),  one  of  its  fine  blue-grass  localities,  a  young  bull,  and 
several  heifers,  half-blooded  (and  they  could  only  have  been  calves, 
or  less  than  yearlings),  of  their  then  called  "  English  "  cattle.  These 


158  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

animals  were  said  to  have  been  purchased  of  Mr.  Gough.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  further  note  these  animals,  as  they  were  but  grades,  only 
to  show  the  spirit  of  enterprise  among  some  of  the  early  cattle  breed- 
ers of  the  State,  in  obtaining  better  stock  than  Kentucky  then  afforded 
for  their  improvement. 

In  1790,  the  elder  Mr.  Patton  removed  from  Virginia  to  Clark 
county  in  Kentucky,  and  took  with  him  a  bull  and  cow  directly 
descended  from  the  Gough  and  Miller  importation  of  the  "  Milk " 
breed,  also  some  half-blooded  cows  of  both  the  "Milk"  and  "Beef" 
breeds.  The  "Beef"  breed  were  "long-haired,  large,  coarse,  slowly 
coming  to  maturity,  and  fattening  badly  until  fully  grown,  yet  tolera- 
ble milkers."  The  "Milk"  breed  (of  which  the  bull  and  cow  first 
named  were  of  pure  descent)  were  short-horned,  coming  early  to 
maturity,  and  fattening  kindly.  Their  milking  qualities  were  extra- 
ordinary. It  was  not  at  all  uncommon  for  cows  of  this  breed  to  give 
thirty-two  quarts  of  milk  daily.  The  Short-horn  bull,  red  in  color, 
with  white  face,  rather  heavy  horns,  yet  smooth  and  round  in  form, 
was  called  Mars.  He  is  recorded  by  number  1850,  American  Herd 
Book.  The  cow  was  called  Venus,  white  in  color,  with  red  ears, 
small,  short  horns,  turning  down.  She  bred  two  bull  calves  to  Mars, 
and  soon  afterwards  died.  Mars  got  many  calves  on  the  native  cows 
in  Kentucky,  which  were  said  by  the  old  breeders  to  be  both  excellent 
milkers  and  good  fattening  animals.  Mars  remained  with  Mr.  Patton 
until  the  death  of  the  latter  in  1803,  when  the  bull  was  sold  to  a  Mr. 
Peeples  in  Montgomery  county,  Ky.,  in  whose  possession  he  died  in 
1806.  Of  the  two  bulls  descended  from  Mars  and  Venus,  one  was 
taken  to  Jessamine  county,  Ky.,  the  other  to  Ohio,  probably  the 
Scioto  valley ;  but  as  all  this  breed,  or  breeds,  in  their  various  intermix- 
tures after  their  introduction  into  Kentucky,  were  called  "Patton 
stock,"  they  became  commingled,  the  shorter  horned,  and  refined 
ones,  with  the  longer  horned  and  coarser  ones,  and  were,  for  many 
years  afterwards,  universally  known  by  that  name  only. 

In  the  year  1803  Mr.  Daniel  Harrison,  James  Patton  and  James 
Gay,  of  Clark  county,  Ky.,  bought  of  Mr.  Miller,  the  importer,  liv- 
ing in  Virginia,  a  two-year-old  bull,  descended  from  a  bull  and  cow 
of  his  importation.  This  bull  was  called  Pluto  (825  A.  H.  B.),  and 
said  to  be  of  the  "Milk"  breed.  He  is  described  as  "dark  roan  or 
red  in  color,  large  in  size,  with  small  head  and  neck,  light,  short  horns, 
small-boned,  and  heavily  fleshed."  He  was  bred  mostly  to  "Patton" 
cows,  and  produced  some  fine  milkers.  He  was  taken  to  Ohio  about 
the  year  1812,  and  died  soon  afterwards. 


THE    PATTON    STOCK.  159 

In  the  year  1810  Capt.  William  Smith,  of  Fayette  county,  Ky., 
purchased  of  the  before  mentioned  Mr.  Miller,  of  Virginia,  and 
brought  to  Kentucky  a  bull  called  Buzzard,  304  (3254).  He  was 
coarser,  larger,  and  taller  than  Pluto,  but  not  so  heavy.  He  was 
bred  in  different  herds  many  years,  and  also  used  by  the  Society  of 
Shakers  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Mercer  county,  Ky.,  in  1821,  and  for  some 
years  afterwards. 

In  the  year  1811  the  bull  Shaker  (2193  A.  H.  B.)  was  bought  of 
Mr.  Miller  aforesaid,  and  used  some  years  both  by  the  Pleasant  Hill, 
Ky.,  and  Union  Village,  Ohio,  Societies  of  Shakers.  They  after- 
wards sold  him  to  Messrs.  Welton  and  Hutchcraft,  of  Kentucky. 
He  was  of  the  "  Milk  "  or  Short-horn  breed.  This  account  we  have 
from  Messrs.  Micajah  Burnett,  of  the  Pleasant  Hill,  and  Peter  Boyd, 
of  the  Union  Village  Societies,  and  although  they  each  differ  in  some 
non-essential  items,  the  identity  of  the  bull  is  fully  recognized. 

These  four  bulls,  viz. :  Mars,  Pluto,  Buzzard,  and  Shaker,  appear 
to  have  been  purely  bred  from  the  Gough  and  Miller  importations 
previous  to  the  year  1810.  From  these  bulls,  but  not  on  equally  pure 
bred  cows  of  those  importations,  descended  many  animals  whose 
pedigrees  have  been  recognized  and  recorded  as  Short-horns  in  the 
earlier  volumes  of  the  English  Herd  Book,  and  of  consequence,  since 
in  the  American  Herd  Book,  as  the  latter  is  founded  on  the  English 
publication,  as  standard  authority,  in  all  matters  of  Short-horn  gene- 
alogy. 

During  the  years  above  mentioned  several  other  bulls  from  the 
Gough  and  Miller  Virginia  stock  were  brought  into  Kentucky  and 
Ohio — some  with  names  and  some  without  names,  other  than  those 
of  their  owners — as  "Inskip's  bull,"  "Peeple'sbull"  (Mars,  probably), 
"  Witherspoon's  bull,"  "Bluff,"  and  others. 

Some  pedigrees  in  the  Herd  Books  run  back  into  several  of  those 
bulls,  which,  as  m&u^z^ptire-bred  crosses  have  since  been  made  upon 
their  descendants,  and  been  recorded  in  the  English  Herd  Book, 
must  be  classed  in  the  family  of  Short-horns. 

From  the  above  accounts  it  is  understood  where  and  how  the 
"  Patton  stock "  originated.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  some  of 
the  original  importations  of  Gough  and  Miller  were  well-bred  cattle 
of  the  Short-horn  or  Teeswater  breed  (which  were  identical  in  origi- 
nal blood),  but  without  pedigrees ;  also  that  others  of  them  may  have 
been  of  the  Holderness  variety — coarser  and  less  improved— of  the 
same  race.  In  the  various  accounts  which  we  have  gathered  from 
different  quarters  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  some  of  them  were  rough 


l6o  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

animals,  tardy  in  arriving  at  maturity,  others  fine  both  in  figure  and 
quality,  and  most  of  the  cows  descended  from  them  proved  excellent 
milkers.  Their  colors  were  more  or  less  red,  white,  and  roan,  which 
are  true  Short-horn  colors. 

These  accounts  are  about  as  accurate  and  as  much  to  the  point  as 
the  English  traditions  relating  to  the  ancient  Short-horns,  or  Tees- 
waters  in  their  native  land,  and  may  be  received  as  a  fair  basis  on 
which  to  found  the  genealogy  of  all  the  pedigrees  which  trace  back 
into  the  "  Patton  "  blood,  and  are  found  recorded  in  both  the  English 
and  American  Herd  Books.  We  have  had  accounts  of,  and  have  seen 
many  admirable  animals  of  this  descent,  since  crossed  with  well-bred 
Short-horn  bulls,  among  the  Kentucky  and  other  Western  herds, 
which,  aside  from  their  Patton  origin,  would  be  considered,  by  accu- 
rate breeders,  equal  in  blood  and  quality  to  many  cattle  of  later 
importation  and  unquestionable  descent. 

With  this  meager  and  perhaps  unsatisfactory  narrative,  we  are 
obliged  to  dismiss  the  Gough  and  Miller  importation,  and  "  Patton 
stock  "  of  Kentucky.  Besides  what  has  been  published  in  the  agri- 
cultural and  other  papers  regarding  them,  all  of  which  are  condensed 
in  the  above  account,  we  have  had  the  opportunity  of  conversing 
with  several  aged  cattle  breeders  of  the  blue-grass  region  of  Ken- 
tucky more  than  thirty  years  ago  on  the  subject,  and  they  clearly 
corroborated  the  accounts  according  to  their  recollection,  as  we  have 
given  them.  A  few  of  these  venerable  men  are  still  living  and  have 
attested  to  the  great  excellence  of  one  or  more  of  those  bulls  as  pos- 
sessing many  strikingly  good  points  of  the  well-bred  bulls  of  the 
present  day. 

VARIOUS  OTHER  IMPORTATIONS. 

Soon  after  the  last  American  war  with  England,  in  the  year  1815, 
it  is  stated  that  Mr.  Samuel  M.  Hopkins,  then  a  resident  at  Moscow, 
in  the  Genesee  valley,  N.  Y.,(  imported  a  Short-horn  bull  called  Mar- 
quis (408),  and  a  cow  called  Princess,  said  to  be  of  the  stock  of  Robert 
Colling.  Mr.  Hopkins  also,  in  1817,  brought  out  a  bull,  Moscow 
(9413).  A  few  descendants  from  these,  afterwards  crossed  by  Short- 
horn bulls  from  Col.  Powel's  herd,  purchased  by  the  Holland  Land 
Company  for  the  benefit  of  the  settlers  on  their  lands  in  Western  New 
York,  were  carefully  bred  many  years  at  and  near  Batavia,  in  Western 
New  York,  some  of  the  blood  of  which  is  still  found  in  good  herds. 

In  1815  or  '16  a  Mr.  Cox,  an  Englishman,  brought  into  Rensselaer 
county,  near  Albany,  N.  Y.,  a  Short-horn  bull  and  two  cows,  which 


THE.   KENTUCKY    IMPORTATION.  l6l 

were  placed  upon  the  farm  of  Mr.  Cadwallader  Golden.  They  were 
there  bred  for  several  years,  but  had  no  recorded  pedigrees.  They 
were  afterwards  crossed  with  the  later  bulls  imported  in  1822,  by  a 
Mr.  Wayne,  viz. :  Comet,  1383,  and  Nelson,  1914,  A.  H.  B.  Some  of 
the  descendants  of  the  Cox  cows  and  bulls  became  the  property  of 
Mr.  Bullock,  of  Albany  county,  which  were  bred  to  these  bulls,  and 
many  good  animals  sprung  from  them.  These  latter  were  locally 
called  the  "Bullock  stock."  We  first  saw  several  of  them  in  the 
year  1833.  They  were  large,  robust  animals,  good,  although  not 
remarkably  fine  in  quality,  but  compared  with  others  of  later  impor- 
tation, true  Short-horns. 

"THE  KENTUCKY  IMPORTATION  OF  1817." 

We  now  come  onto  fair  ground  in  the  introduction  of  genuine 
Short-horns  in  the  United  States ;  and  although  frequent  debates  and 
controversies  have  occurred  touching  the  purity  in  blood  of  the  Short- 
horns of  that  importation,  to  a  candid  mind  there  can  be  little  doubt 
of  their  legitimate  descent.  The  story  of  their  purchase,  arrival  in 
Kentucky,  and  subsequent  breeding,  has  been  often  told  in  various 
publications — among  others,  in  the  first  and  second  volumes  of  the 
American  Herd  Book ;  but  as  these  volumes  may  not  be  at  the  read- 
er's hand,  a  full  repetition  of  their  history  will  be  given. 

Col.  Lewis  Sanders,  a  gentleman  of  character,  position,  and  engaged 
in  active  business,  then  in  the  prime  of  life,  lived  at  Grass  Hills,  Ky., 
in  the  year  1816.  We  have  had  the  pleasure  of  his  personal  acquaint- 
ance, having  first  met  him  about  the  year  1850,  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
and  on  two  or  three  occasions  afterwards — the  last  time  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  in  the  winter  of  1859-60,  he  then  being  upwards  of 
eighty  years  of  age,  and  a  few  years  previous  to  his  decease.  In  our 
first  interview  he  p^icul^rly  related  the  account  of  his  importation 
of  cattle  from  England  into  Kentucky  in  the  year  1817,  of  which  we 
then  made  a  memorandum.  Of  his  truthfulness  no  one  knowing  him 
ever  entertained  a  question.  The  best  and  most  succinctly  written 
account  of  that  importation  was  by  Mr.  Brutus  J.  Clay,  of  Bourbon 
county,  Ky.,  a  large  farmer,  Short-horn  cattle  breeder,  and  a  gentle- 
man of  unquestionable  character,  published  February  i,  1855,  in  the 
Ohio  Farmer,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  In  prefacing  his  account  Mr.  Clay 
introduces  a  letter  from  Col.  Sanders  to  Mr.  Edwin  G.  Bedford,  an 
extensive  and  experienced  Short-horn  cattle  breeder  of  Bourbon 
county,  Ky. : 
II 


162  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

"  I  was  induced  to  send  the  order  for  the  cattle  (in  the  fall  of 
1816),  by  seeing  an  account  of  Charles  Ceiling's  great  sale  in  1810. 
At  this  sale  enormous  prices  were  paid ;  one  thousand  guineas  for 
the  bull  Comet.  This  induced  me  to  think  there  was  a  value  un- 
known to  us  in  these  cattle,  and  as  I  then  had  the  control  of  means, 
determined  to  procure  some  of  this  breed.  For  some  years  previous 
I  was  in  the  regular  receipt  of  English  publications  on  agricultural 
improvements,  and  improvements  in  the  various  descriptions  of  stock. 
From  the  reported  surveys  of  counties,  I  was  pretty  well  posted  as  to 
the  localities  of  the  most  esteemed  breeds  of  cattle.  My  mind  was 
made  up,  fixing  on  the  Short-horns  as  most  suitable  for  us.  I  had 
frequent  conversations  on  this  matter  with  my  friend  and  neighbor, 
Capt.  William  Smith,  then  an  eminent  breeder  of  cattle.  He  was 
thoroughly  impressed  in  favor  of  the  old  Long-horn  breed.  To 
gratify  him,  and  to  please  some  old  South  Branch  feeders,  I  ordered 
a  pair  of  Long-horns ;  and  was  more  willing  to  do  so  from  the  fact, 
that  this  was  the  breed  selected  by  the  distinguished  Mr.  Bakewell 
for  his  experimental,  yet  most  successful  improvements.  I  forwarded 
to  the  house  of  Buchanan,  Smith  &  Co.,  of  Liverpool,  $1,500  to  make  the 
purchase,  expecting  to  get  three  pair  only,  with  instructions  to  pro- 
cure a  competent  judge  and  suitable  agent,  to  go  into  the  cattle 
district  and  make  the  selection,  the  animals  not  to  be  over  two  years 
old,  and  no  restriction  as  to  price.  At  the  time,  the  Holderness  breed 
was  in  highest  repute  for  milkers.  I  directed  that  the  agent  should 
be  sent  to  Yorkshire  to  procure  a  pair  of  that  breed,  then  to  the  river 
Tees,  in  Durham  county,  for  a  pair  of  Short-horn  Durhams,  then  to 
the  county  of  Westmoreland  for  a  pair  of  the  Long-horns,  etc. 

"  The  agent  sent  from  Liverpool,  J.  C.  Etches,  a  celebrated  butcher 
of  that  place,  went  as  directed,  and  purchased  six  pair  instead  of 
three.  It  being  soon  after  the  war,  all  kinds  of  produce  had  much 
cheapened,  and  the  stock  sold  lower  than  was  expected. 

"After  the  cattle  were  shipped  from  Liverpool,  on  the  vessel  Mo- 
hawk, bound  to  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  the  cattle  afterwards  landed, 
I  sold  one-third  interest  in  them  to  Capt.  William  Smith,  and  another 
third  to  Dr.  Tegarden,  of  Kentucky." 

It  appears  that  there  were  twelve  animals  in  all  purchased  and 
shipped — eight  Short-horns,  four  bulls  and  four  heifers;  and  four 
Long-horns,  two  bulls  and  two  heifers.  No  pedigrees  came  with  the 
cattle,  as  it  was  five  years  previous  to  the  publication  of  the  first 
volume  of  the  English  Short-horn  Herd  Book.  There  was  simply  an 


THE    KENTUCKY    IMPORTATION    OF    1817.  163 

invoice  of  the  cattle,  which  only  partially  described  them.  This 
invoice  Col.  Sanders  gave,  as  follows : 

"No.  i.  Bull  from  Mr.  Clement.  Winston,  on  the  river  Tees,  got 
by  Mr.  Constable's  bull,  brother  to  Comet,"  afterwards  (155)  E.  H.  B. 
The  name  of  this  bull  was  San  Martin,  afterwards  (2599)  in  E.  H.  B. 

"  No.  2.  Bull,  Holderness  breed,  from  Mr.  Scott,  out  of  a  cow 
which  gave  34  quarts  of  milk  per  day."  The  name  of  this  bull  was 
Tecumseh,  afterwards  (5409)  E.  H.  B. 

"  No.  3.  Bull  from  Mr.  Reed,  West-holme,  of  his  own  old  breed." 
This  bull  is  probably  the  one  called  Comet,  afterwards  1382,  A.  H.  B. 
Said  to  have  been  got  by  either  Comet  (155),  or  his  brother  North  Star 
(458),  E.  H.  B. 

"  No.  4.  Bull,  Holderness  breed,  from  Mr.  Humphreys,  got  by 
Mr.  Mason's  bull,  of  Islington."  No  Herd  Book  record  appears  to 
have  since  been  made  of  this  bull,  and  we  know  not  what  became  of 
him.  Mr.  Clay  states  that  one  of  the  bulls  "  was  sold  to  Capt.  Fowler, 
who  afterwards  sold  him  to  Gen.  Fletcher,  and  was  taken  to  Bath 
county,  Ky.,  where  he  died." 

Of  the  females,  the  invoice  states  that 

"  No.  7,  was  a  heifer  from  Mr.  Wilson,  Staindrop,  Durham  breed. 

"  Nos.  8,  9,  10,  were  heifers  from  Mr.  Shipman,  on  the  river  Tees, 
of  his  own  breed. 

"In  the  division  of  the  Short-horns  above  named,  Col.  Sanders 
became  owner  of  the  bulls  San  Martin  and  Tecumseh."  Col.  San- 
ders states  that  Comet  became  the  property  of  Dr.  Tegarden. 

"  Of  the  Shipman  heifers,  No.  7  became  the  property  of  Captain 
Smith,  and  was  called  the  'Durham  Cow.' 

"  Of  the  four  remaining,  twxxwere  retained  by  Col.  Sanders.  One 
of  which  was  called  '  Mrs.  Motte,  alra  the  other  named  the  '  Teeswater 
Cow.'" 

The  other  fourth  heifer  died  in  Maryland,  never  having  reached 
Kentucky. 

This  disposes  of  the  Short-horns  of  the  importation. 

"  Of  the  Long-horns,  Capt.  Smith  was  the  owner  of  one  of  the  bulls, 
called  'Bright.'  Dr.  Tegarden  took  the  other,  and  called  him  'Ris- 
ing Sun,'  which,  by  some  strange  mistake,  is  recorded  in  the  English 
Short-horn  Herd  Book  as  number  (6386). 

"Of  the  Long-horn  cows,  No.  n  was  called  the  'Long-horn  Cow,' 
and  No.  12,  'Georgia  Ann,'  the  property  of  the  gentlemen  who 
owned  the  Long-horn  bulls." 


164  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

• 

The  Long-horns  were  bred  together,  and  left  some  produce.  A 
Long-horn  bull,  from  Capt.  Smith's  cow,  was  sold  to  Mr.  George 
Renick,  of  the  Scioto  valley,  in  Ohio,  where  he  was  bred  for  some 
years.  The  original  Long-horn  bulls  were  bred  to  some  extent  to 
other  cows  than  those  which  were  imported  with  them,  but  they  did  not 
prove  popular  with  the  cattle  breeders  of  Kentucky,  and  after  a  trial 
of  some  years  they  gradually  run  out,  as  many  years  ago  no  trace  of 
them,  in  pure  blood,  could  be  found  in  the  vicinity  of  their  importa- 
tion. Through  the  bull  taken  to  Ohio  by  Mr.  Renick  (but  whether 
from  pure  Long-horn  heifers  or  not  we  have  no  information),  several 
cattle  with  marked  characteristics  of  the  blood  were  bred  in  the 
Scioto  valley.  We  recollect,  in  1821,  when  just  verging  into  man- 
hood, taking  a  horseback  journey  from  Columbus  to  Circleville,  in 
the  vicinity  of  which  latter  town  the  Renick  brothers  owned  large 
landed  estates,  we  saw  a  herd  of  a  dozen  or  more  Long-horned  cattle 
grazing  in  a  field  by  the  side  of  the  road.  Their  singular  appearance, 
grazing  on  the  rich  blue-grass,  or  lying  under  the  shade  of  the  majes- 
tic trees,  attracted  our  attention.  We  rode  up  to  the  fence,  hitched 
our  horse,  and  went  into  the  field  to  view  them.  They  had  every 
appearance  of  being  either  thorough-bred,  or  high  grades  of  the 
Long-horn  breed,  with  long  drooping  horns,  pushing  forward  beyond 
their  noses,  or  falling  below  their  jaws,  light  brindle  in  color,  with 
white  stripes  along  their  backs,  as  we  now  see  their  portraits  in  the 
books.  They  were  long-bodied,  a  little  swayed  in  the  back,  not 
very  compact  in  shape,  but  withal  imposing  animals  to  the  eye. 
We  made  no  inquiries  about  them  at  the  time,  as  we  then  knew  little 
of  breeds  of  cattle.  Thirty  years  afterwards  being  again  at  Circle- 
ville, and  having  a  better  knowledge  of  breeds,  on  inquiry  for  cattle 
of  that  character,  we  could  find  no  trace,  nor  even  a  recollection  of 
them  among  the  older  farmers  of  the  vicinity. 

We  have  diverged  into  this  somewhat  extended  episode  of  the 
Long-horns  to  explain  why  and  wherefore  it  has  since  become  a  sub- 
ject of  more  or  less  controversy  with  doubters  of  the  integrity  of 
the  Short-horn  blood  of  the  1817  importation,  that  the  Long-horn 
blood  became  to  some  extent  amalgamated  with  the  true  Short-horn 
blood  of  the  stock  which  came  into  Kentucky  with  them.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  bull  "  Rising  Sun "  got  into  the  English  Herd  Book 
(6386),  as  "imported  into  the  United  States  of  America."  It  is  also 
certain  that  some  pedigrees  of  crosses  between  the  Long-horned 
and  Short-horned  cattle  have  crept  into  the  Herd  Books,  both  Eng- 
lish and  American ;  but,  as  the  Long-horns  in  England  have  for  a 


THE    KENTUCKY    IMPORTATION    OF    1817.          165 

long  series  of  years  been  considered  a  valuable  race,  and  their  reputa- 
tion, through  the  skill  and  perseverance  of  Bakewell,  their  distinguished 
breeder,  stood  high,  and  many  pure  Short-horn  crosses  have  since 
been  made  upon  the  Kentucky  Long-horns,  little,  if  any,  injury  can 
be  imputed  to  animals  now  existing  which  may  inherit  the  remote 
fraction  of  Long-horn  blood  traced  into  their  veins. 

To  return  to  the  Short-horns  of  the  1817  importation,  and  the 
evidences,  in  absence  of  pedigrees  to  them,  touching  their  purity  of 
blood,  which  has  been  challenged.  In  addition  to  the  testimony  of 
Col.  Sanders  in  the  employment  of  his  agent,  Mr.  Etches,  the  latter, 
in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Affleck,  published  in  the  Western  Farmer  and  Gar- 
dener, writes :  "  I  have  been  a  butcher  twenty-eight  years  in  Liver- 
pool, and  am  a  breeder  of  fine  stock.  I  was  the  purchaser  of  the 
Short-horn  stock  for  Messrs.  Buchanan,  Smith  &  Co.,  which  went  to 
America  in  1817 — six  in  number,  three  bulls  and  three  heifers  [eight 
he  ought  to  have  said,  as  there  were  four  of  each  sex,  including  the 
two  Holderness,  which  were  also  Short-horns,  in  fact].  Every  animal 
was  pure  of  its  kind"  They  were  selected  in  Durham  or  Yorkshire — 
perhaps  in  both,  near  the  river  Tees,  the  ancient  home  of  the  race. 

Mr.  Etches  was  afterwards  the  purchaser  of  Short-horns  for  other 
American  importers — for  Mr.  Letton,  of  Kentucky,  of  the  bull  Loco- 
motive, 92  and  (4242),  also  for  Mr.  Vail,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  of  the  bull 
Duke  of  Wellington,  55  and  (5654),  and  the  cow  Duchess,  page  172, 
Vol.  i,  A.  H.  B.,  all  three  of  them  from  the  herd  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Bates. 

The  late  Gen.  James  Garrard,  of  Kentucky,  whose  word  no  one 
would  question,  states  that  "when  in  England  many  years  ago,  he 
saw  Mr.  Etches,  who  assured  him4]aat  the  Short-horns  which  he  pur- 
chased for  Col.  Sanders  were  as  gooo>of  their  kind  as  were  then  to 
be  had  in  England." 

Further,  we  now  quote  from  the  second  volume  of  the  American 
Herd  Book,  edited  in  the  year  1855  : 

"In  1848,  Mr.  Stevens,  of  New  York,  was  in  England.  He  thus 
writes :  *  I  saw  Mr.  J.  C.  Etches  in  York,  and  was  introduced 
to  him  by  Mr.  Thomas  Bates,  the  noted  Short-horn  breeder.  In 
answer  to  my  questions,  Mr.  Etches  remarked:  'I  purchased  for  Mr. 
Sanders,  of  America,  in  1817,  some  Short-horn  cattle,  of  different 
persons,  near  the  river  Tees.  These  cattle  were  thought  by  myself 
and  others  to  be  very  fine  animals.'  In  answer  to  the  question  by 
me  if  he  knew  the  pedigrees  of  any  of  these  cattle,  Mr.  Etches  turned 
to  Mr.  Bates,  and  said :  '  Mr.  Bates  probably  knows  something  about 


166  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

the  pedigree  of  the  Shipman  heifers,  and  I  refer  to  him.'  Mr.  Bates 
replied,  that  he  well  recollected  of  Mr.  Shipman 's  selling  a  heifer  to 
go  to  America  She  was  called  *  Mrs.  Motte,'  after  a  sister  of  either 
Mr.  or  Mrs.  Shipman.  Mr.  Maynard  had  a  cow  by  a  son  of  Hubback 
(319),  which  cow  he  called  Starling.  This  cow  (Starling)  had  three 
daughters.  One  of  these  daughters  Mr.  Maynard  kept.  One  he  sold 
to  me  (Mr.  Bates),  and  the  other  he  sold  to  Mr.  Shipman,  who  called 
her  'Starling,'  after  her  dam,  and  when  he  bought  her  she  was  in  calf 
to  'Adam'  (717).  The  produce  was  a  heifer,  which  he  called  'Mrs. 
Motte,'  and  afterwards  sold  to  Mr.  Etches.'  As  Mr.  Bates  owned  a 
sister  of  the  dam  of  Mrs.  Motte,  he  knew  her  pedigree,  and  as  a  sale 
to  go  to  America  was  a  remarkable  thing  in  that  day,  the  fact  made  a 
strong  impression  on  Mr.  Bates'  mind.  See  pedigree  of  '  Young  Star- 
ling,' in  page  543,  Vol.  2,  Coates'  Herd  Book.  Mr.  Shipman's  'Star- 
ling '  (dam  of  Mrs.  Motte),  was  full  sister  to  on-e  of  the  Starlings 
named  in  said  pedigree.  (Of  course  her  pedigree  was  the  same.) 

"  Mrs.  Motte 's  pedigree  thus  stands  : 

"Mrs.  Motte,  got  by  Adam  (717),  dam  Starling,  by  a  son  [by 
Favorite  (252)]  of  Mr.  Maynard's  old  Yellow  Favorite  (cow);  gr.  d. 
by  a  son  of  Hubback  (319),  g.  gr.  d.  by  Manfield  (404),  g.  g.  gr.  d. 
(Young  Strawberry),  by  Dalton  Duke  (188).  Here  this  pedigree,  at 
page  543,  Vol.  2,  ends;  but  referring,  in  Vol.  i,  page  508,  to  the  ped- 
igree of  Young  Strawberry,  the  cow  last  named  above,  it  will  be  seen 
that  she  goes  further  back,  in  carrying  out  the  pedigree  of  Mrs. 
Motte,  thus :  g.  g.  g.  gr.  d.  Favorite  (bred  by  Mr.  Maynard),  by  Mr. 
R.  Alcock's  bull  (19).  Then,  in  pedigree  of  this  cow,  Favorite,  Vol. 
i,  page  308,  it  will  be  seen  that  Mrs.  Motte's  pedigree  continues 
further  back,  thus :  g.  g.  g.  g.  gr.  d.  by  Mr.  Jacob  Smith's  bull  (608), 
g.  g.  g.  g.  g.  gr.  d.  by  Mr.  Jolly's  bull  (337).  There  are  few,  if  any, 
better  pedigrees  than  Mrs.  Motte's — granting  it  to  be  correct — in  the 
English  Herd  Book. 

"As  the  other  two  heifers,  and  the  bulls,  were  purchased  in  the 
same  neighborhood,  and  at  the  same  time,  it  may  be  inferred,  that  if 
their  pedigrees  were  not  equal  in  length,  their  blood  may  have  been 
as  good.  But  it  is  not  proposed  to  argue  the  question.  Facts  are 
submitted. 

"  In  the  succeeding  importations,  by  Mr.  Powel,  of  Philadelphia, 
some  of  which  found  their  way  into  Kentucky,  in  1824-^  (the  pedi- 
grees of  which  were  unquestioned),  the  descendants  of  the  1817 
importation  were  bred  to  these  bulls,  and  were  afterwards  bred  to 
the  Ohio  and  Kentucky  importations  of  later  years ;  and  as  they  have 


THE    KENTUCKY    IMPORTATION    OF    1817.          167 

been  bred  upon  by  fresher  unquestionable  Short-horn  blood  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  there  is  but  a*  fractional  part  of  the  1817  blood  to 
be  traced  in  any  living  animal  claiming  descent  from  it.  These 
descendants  stand  upon  record  as  having  frequently  been  successful 
competitors  among  the  prize  cattle  in  the  States,  where  they  have 
been  exhibited  by  the  side  of  those  possessing  none  else  than  pure 
Short -horn  blood. 

"  Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  been  favored  with  a  letter  from 
Mr.  H.  H.  Hankins,  of  Bloomington,  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  who  was 
one  of  the  agents  sent  by  the  Clinton  County  Cattle  Company  to 
England,  for  the  purchase  of  Short-horns,  in  1854.  It  is  thus : 

*  DEAR  SIR — Yours,  asking  for  information  relative  to  the  Sanders 
cattle  importation  of  1817,  is  at  hand.  I  was,  when  in  England,  in 
the  immediate  neighborbood  of  the  river  Tees,  where  Mr.  Etches 
purchased  the  cattle,  /.  £.,  the  Short-horns.  Before  I  left  Ohio,  I  had 
learned  the  names  of  the  persons  of  whom  the  stock  had  been  bought, 
and  also  their  locality.  I  made  inquiry  of  many  who  are  now  breed- 
ing Short-horns  on  the  Tees,  respecting  the  persons  of  whom  the 
cattle  were  bought.  I  found  several  who  knew  them  from  character, 
but  were  not  personally  acquainted  with  them ;  but  was  recommended 
to  call  on  an  old  gentleman,  of  good  character,  living  near  Darling- 
ton, who  had  been  a  breeder  of  Short-horns  at  the  time  Mr.  Etches 
bought  them  for  Col.  Sanders.  His  name  is  Timothy  Lanchester. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  been  an  intimate  friend  of  Messrs.  Robert 
and  Charles  Colling,  and  most  of  the  other  old  breeders  in  Durham. 
I  gave  him,  the  names  of  the  men  of  whom  Mr.  Etches  bought  the 
cattle  for  Mr.  Sanders.  He  at  once  said  that  he  knew  them  well, 
and  gave  me  a  certificate,  a  copy  of  which  I  send  you.  I  was  recom- 
mended to  this  old  gentleman  by  the  Messrs.  Emerson,  Harrison,  and 
others,  who  spoke  highly  of  his  integrity  and  knowledge  of  the  old 
breeders\in  that  vicinity.  The  certificate  is  as  follows : 

1 1,  Timothy  Lanchester,  of  Haughton  Leskeine,  near  Darlington,  Durham,  Eng- 
land, born  in  the  year  1771,  do  hereby  certify,  that  I  was  well  acquainted  with 
Matthew  Shipman,  Clement  Winston,  Thomas  Reed,  and  Mr.  Wilson,  who  were 
cattle  breeders  on  the  river  Tees,  and  who,  it  is  said,  sold  some  Short-horns  to  a  Mr. 
Etches,  of  Liverpool,  which  were  to  be  shipped  to  the  United  States,  in  the  year  1817. 

'  They  were  gentlemen  of  the  highest  character,  and  their  fine  Short -horns  were 
considered  equal  to  any  in  the  country  at  that  day.  The  importance  of  keeping 
pedigrees  was  not  so  much  thought  of  at  that  day  as  at  the  present;  since  which 
time  there  has  been  a  public  record  of  the  Short-horns  kept  in  England,  by  which 
may  be  traced,  some  of  them,  to  the  herds  of  the  above-named  gentlemen.  I  was 
engaged  in  breeding  Short-horns  at  the  date  above  alluded  to,  and  have  been  more 


1 68 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


or  less  interested  in  Short-horns  up  to  the  present,  and  have  been  familiar  with  most 
of  the  breeders  of  Short -horns  in  England,  from  the  days  of  the  Collings  down  to 
the  present  time,  and  I  have  never  heard  any  one  doubt  that  the  Messrs.  Shipman, 
Winston,  Reed  and  Wilson,  possessed  as  pure  Short-horns  as  existed  at  that  day. 
'  Given  under  my  hand,  at  Darlington,  England,  the  6th  day  of  March,  1854. 

(Signed)  TIMOTHY  LANCHESTER.' 

'I  could  have  had  a  number  of  other  certificates  from  younger 
breeders,  but  I  preferred  to  take  one  from  this  old  and  much  esteemed 
gentleman,  who  had  personally  known  those  old  breeders. 

(Signed)  H.  H.  HANKINS. 

'  BLOOMINGTON,  OHIO,  March  25,  1855.'  " 

To  pursue  the  1817  importation  exhaustively,  we  quote  further 
from  Vol.  4,  American  Herd  Book,  edited  in  the  year  1859 : 

"  I  herewith  publish  a  list  of  the  produce,  by  name,  of  the  three 
cows  of  Col.  Sanders'  Kentucky  importation  of  1817,  together  with 
the  produce  of  some  of  their  daughters.  The  record  will  be  gratify- 
ing to  many  who  are  interested  in  that  blood,  and  valuable  for  future 
reference.  For  these  papers  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  H.  H.  Hankins, 
of  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  who  received  them  from  Dr.  S.  D.  Martin, 
of  Clark  county,  Ky.  They  are  as  follows : 

"Produce  of  Mrs.  Motte,  Kentucky  importation  1817. 


Year  of     Color 
Births.     &  Sex. 

Name. 

Sire. 

Owner. 

1818,            B. 
1819,  Red  H. 
1821,            H. 
1823,            H. 
1824,            H. 
1826,             B. 
1827,  r.&w.B. 
1828,            B. 
1830,            B. 

Paul  Jones  (4661), 
Lady  Munday, 
Lady  Kate, 
Miss  Motte, 
Sylvia, 
Den.  de  la  Motte  (1914) 
Stonehammer, 
Accommodation  (2907) 
Partnership  (6277),  (?) 

Imp.  Tecumseh  (5409), 
Imp.  San  Martin  (2599) 
Imp.  T%cumseh  (5409), 
Imp.  San  Martin  (2599) 
do. 
do. 
do. 
Cornplanter  (3492), 
Accommodation  (2907) 

Gen.  Garrard. 
T.  P.  Dudley. 
Col.  Sanders. 
Gen.  Garrard. 
Dr.  Martin. 
Ohio  Shakers. 
Walter  Dun. 

"Produce  of  the  Durham  Cow,  Kentucky  importation 


1818,    —    B. 

Wickliffe's  bull,  1099, 

Got  on  passage,* 

Robert  Wickliffe. 

1819,    —    B. 

Wellington, 

San  Martin  (2599), 

Mr.  Carr. 

1820,    —   H. 

Smith  Heifer, 

do. 

Gen.  Garrard. 

1821,    —  H. 

Lady  Durham, 

do. 

B.W.  &  E.Worthen. 

1822,    —    B. 

Lafayette,  1755, 

Paul  Jones  (4661), 

Col.  Sanders. 

1823,    —    B. 

Napoleon,  1899, 

San  Martin  (2599), 

Major  Gano. 

1824,    —   H. 

Beauty, 

Lafayette,  1755, 

Col.  Sanders. 

1825,    —    B. 

DeKalb  (steer), 

Napoleon,  1899, 

do. 

1826,    —    B. 

Dead, 

do. 

do. 

1828,    —  H. 

Hadassah, 

do. 

do. 

1829,    —  H. 

No  name, 

do. 

Major  Gano. 

"  *  The  Herd  Book  pedigree  of  Wickliffe's  bull,  says :    '  Got  by  San  Martin   (2599)'.— L.  F.  A. 


THE    KENTUCKY    IMPORTATION    OF    1817.          169 
"Produce  of  the  Teeswater  Cow,  Kentucky  importation 


Year  of     Color 
Births.     &  Sex. 

Name. 

Sire. 

Owner. 

1818,  Red  B. 
—   H. 
—   H. 

Mirandi  (4488), 
Miss  Haggin, 
Hetty  (Haggin), 

Got  on  passage,* 
San  Martin  (2599), 
do. 

Judge  Haggin. 
Dr.  Warfield. 
W.  R.  Scott. 

—    B. 

Kentuckian  (1733), 

do. 

. 

—   H. 
—    H. 

Pink, 

Mirandi  (4488), 
Munday's  bull,  727, 

Judge  Haggin. 
S.  Smith. 

"  In  regard  to  the  produce  of  this  cow,  Dr.  Martin  says :  '  I  cannot  give  the  dates 
of  their  birth,  nor  do  I  suppose  I  have  given  them  in  their  proper  order'  (of  sex  or 
name). — ED.  ^ 

"  *  The  Herd  Book  pedigree  of  Mirandi,  says :    l  Got  by  San  Martin  (2599)'.— L.  F.  A. 

"Produce  of  Lady  Munday,by  San  Martin  (2599),  out  of  Mrs.  Motte. 


1821,    —    B. 

Cornplanter  (3492), 

Tecumseh  (5409), 

Hector  Lewis. 

1823,    —    B. 

Champion,  325, 

do. 

Gen.  Garrard. 

1824,    —  H. 

Tulip, 

Mirandi  (4488), 

do. 

1825,    —  H. 

Dead, 

do. 

do. 

1826,    —  H. 

Beauty, 

Sportsman,  998, 

do. 

1827,    —    B. 

Denton  (3583), 

Champion,  325, 

do. 

1828,     —    B. 

Misfortune,  716, 

Sportsman,  998, 

do. 

1829,    —    B. 

Comet,  355, 

do* 

do. 

1830,    —    B. 

Drone, 

do. 

do. 

1831,    —   H. 

Drucilla, 

Duroc,  454, 

do. 

1832,    —    B. 

Slider,  979, 

do. 

do. 

11  *  The  Herd  Book  pedigree  of  Comet,  says  :    '  Got  by  Cornplanter  (3492)'. — L.  F.  A. 

"Produce  of  Lady  Kate,  by  Tecumseh  (5409),  out  of  Mrs.  Motte. 


1824,    —  H. 

Duchess,                     4. 

San  Martin  (2599), 

H.  Blanton. 

,    -    B. 

Mohawk  (4492), 

do. 

James  Munday. 

1827,     —   H. 

Nancy  Dawson, 

do. 

Mr.  McClure. 

1829,    —   H. 

Eleanor, 

Stonehammer, 

T.  P.  Dudley. 

1830,    —  H. 

Amanda, 

Accommodation  (2907) 

T.  G.  Brent. 

1831,    —    B. 

Oscar, 

do. 

T.  P.  Dudley. 

1832,    —    B. 

Backway  (?), 

do. 

Mr.  Goodloe. 

1833,    —    B. 

jJian  Webster, 

Tariff,  1023, 

Mr.  Dudley. 

1834,    —    B. 

Southard,  994,^ 

Pontiac  (4734). 

do. 

1836,    —   H. 

Dead, 

Tariff,  1023, 

do. 

1837,    -   H. 

Mis/Biddle, 

Nic  Biddle, 

T.P.&  J.W.Dudley. 

1838,    —    B. 

Echo, 

Geo.  Reynolds,  1610, 

do. 

"  In  1838,  Lady  Kate  broke  her  leg,  and  was  slaughtered  at  17  years  old.. 

"Produce  of  the  Smith  Heifer,  by  San  Martin  (2599),  out  °f the  Dur- 
ham Cow. 


1824,     —    B.   Sportsman, 


Cornplanter  (3492),        |  Gen.  Garrard. 


"  This  cow  had  no  other  calf,  being  soon  afterwards  killed  by  the  goring  of  an  ox. 


I/O 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


"Produce  of  Sylvia,  by  San  Martin  (2599),  out  °f  Mrs.  Motte. 


Year  of  1   Color 
Births.  |  &  Sex. 

Name. 

Sire. 

Owner. 

1826,    —    B. 
1828,    —    B. 
1830,     —   H. 
1831,     —    B. 
1832,     —    B. 
1834,     —   H. 
1835,    -   H. 

Exchange,  482, 
Duroc,  454, 
Nymph, 
President,  2046, 
Proclamation  (4838), 
Octavia, 
Virginia, 

Champion,  325, 
Sportsman,  998, 
do. 
Cornplanter  (3492), 
Denton  (3583), 
do. 
Exception  (3746), 

Gov.Trimble,  Ohio. 
Messrs.  Renick,  do. 
Gen.  Garrard. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 

"Produce  of  Lady  Durham,  by  San  Martin  (2599),  out  of  the  Durham 

Cow. 


1833,    -   H. 
1834,     —   H. 
1835,    -   H. 
1836,    —  H. 

1837,    -   H. 
j^ 

Susan  Munday, 
Laura, 
Lady  Macallister, 
Phcenix, 
Lily, 

Mirandi  (4488), 
Oliver  (2387), 
Pontiac  (4734), 
Oliver  (2387), 
Alonzo,  209, 

IVTiranrli  (/\/tRK\ 

James  Haggin. 
Ben.  Warfield. 
J.  N.  Brown,  111. 
Ben.  Warfield. 
E.  Worthen. 

Son  of  Mirandi  (4488) 

T>. 

V               1                * 

"Tariff   TO27 

"  (A  part  of  the  numbers  attached  to  the  bulls  in  the  above  tables,  I  have  looked 
up  and  placed  there  myself. — L.  F.  A.) 

"  Dr.  Martin,  in  a  note,  adds :  '  I  have  no  list  of  the  produce  of  the  Durham 
Cow's  heifer  Beauty,  by  Lafayette,  1755,  except  one  heifer  called  Beauty,  by  Prince 
Regent,  877.' 

"  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  three  imported  cows  produced  thir- 
teen heifers,  besides  sundry  bulls,  and  that  four  of  those  heifers 
produced  fifteen  heifer  calves,  besides  bulls — twenty-eight  known 
females.  Supposing  the  eight  other  heifers  (for  the  '  Smith  heifer ' 
only  produced  one  calf,  and  that  a  bull)  had  produced  three  heifer 
calves  each,  making  twenty-four,  there  would  be  in  the  second  gen- 
eration of  the  imported  cows,  including  'Beauty,  by  Prince  Regent,' 
forty  breeding  cows — and  those  well  cultivated  in  their  breeding 
faculties  during  their  lives,  as  their  liberal  proprietors,  both  in  Ken- 
tucky and  Ohio,  would  be  sure  to  do,  we  can  well  imagine  that  their 
numbers,  at  the  present  time,  would  swell  to  an  extent  much  beyond 
what  the  pages  of  the  Herd  Books  represent. 

"Had  all  the  names  of  the  heifer  descendants  of  the  1817  impor- 
tation been  preserved  by  the  breeders  of  their  produce,  many  of  the 
uncertainties  resting  upon  some  of  their  recorded  pedigrees  would  be 
explained.  The  same  remarks  may  be  applied  to  the  produce  of 
some  other  importations  of  well-bred  Short-horns  many  years  ago. 


THE    KENTUCKY    IMPORTATION    OF    1817.          I/I 

occasional  pedigrees  or  memorandums  of  which  have  been  hunted  up 
and  recorded  in  the  present  volume. 

"  With  these  tables  of  produce  of  the  three  cows  of  the  original 
Kentucky  importation  in  1817,  and  some  of  their  heifers,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  those  breeders  interested  in  their  blood,  whose  cattle  ped- 
igrees do  not  trace  back,  by  name>  on  the  dam's  side,  will  be  able  to 
substantiate  their  claim  to  an  undisputed  genealogy." 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  all  Short-horns  tracing  their  pedigrees 
back  through  well-bred  bulls  into  animals  of  both  sexes  named  in  the 
foregoing  tables,  may  be  called  pure  Short-horns,  admitting  that  the 
1817  importation  were  such.  Alluding  back  to  Mr.  B.  J.  Clay's  letter 
from  which  we  have  so  largely  quoted,  he  remarks :  "In  1817  [other 
accounts  say  1818]  Mr.  James  Prentice,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  imported 
two  bulls,  John  Bull,  598^,  and  Prince  Regent,  877,  A.  H.  B.,  one  of 
the  celebrated  Durham  improved  breed,  and  the  other  of  the  im- 
proved 'Milk '  breed.  John  Bull  was  a  deep  red,  fine  size,  good  form, 
with  delicate  down-pointed  horns.  Prince  Regent  was  pied,  white, 
with  some  red  spots.  They  were  purchased  by  Nathaniel  Hart,  of 
Woodford,  and  John  Hart,  of  Fayette  counties,  for  $1,500,  and  pro- 
duced some  good  stock." 

These  bulls  were  considered  good  Short-horns,  but  like  the  impor- 
tation of  1817,  they  had  no  written  pedigrees.  Many  excellent  Herd 
Book  animals  now  trace  their  genealogy  into  John  Bull  and  Prince 
Regent,  of  the  Prentice  importation. 

Those  pedigrees  which  trace  through  well-bred  bulls  since  the 
Gough  and  Miller  importation,  or  Patton  tribe,  may  have  a  slight 
fraction  of  unknown  blood ;  but  it  may  possibly  be  doubted  whether 
they  now  have  more  outside  blood  in  their  composition  than  some 
other  Short-horns  of  English  birth  and  Herd  Book  pedigrees  which 
have  since  been  imported. 

Av^^mtiMated,  there  may  be  some  trivial  errors  in  the  foregoing 
accounts  of  the  early  Kentucky  Short-horn  herds,  caused  by  the 
various  sources  from  which  they  are  derived,  but  in  the  main  they 
may  be  considered  correct.  Many  years  ago,  between  1830  and 
1840,  a  committee  for  the  purpose  of  compiling  and  issuing  a  Short- 
horn Herd  Book  in  Kentucky  was  appointed,  consisting  of  the  late 
Messrs.  Benjamin  Warfield  of  Fayette,  Samuel  D.  Martin  of  Clark, 
and  Robert  W.  Scott  of  Franklin  counties — the  two  last  mentioned 
still  living.  They  obtained  probably  all  the  information  then  in 
existence  relative  to  the  subject  in  hand.  We  understood  that  Dr. 
Martin  was  charged  with  the  possession  of  the  documentary  matter 


1/2  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

pertaining  to  their  proposed  labors,  but  the  project  was  never  carried 
out.  It  is  chiefly  from  such  material  that  our  information,  at  second 
hand,  has  been  derived. 

In  November,  1817,  Mr.  Samuel  Williams,  of  Massachusetts,  then 
a  merchant,  residing  in  London,  England,  purchased  of  the  cele- 
brated breeder,  Mr.  Wetherell,  and  sent  to  his  brother,  Stephen 
Williams,  of  Northboro',  Mass.,  the  bull  "Young  Denton  "  (963),  16 
months  old.  (This  pedigree  in  Vol.  2,  E.  H.  B.,  says  Mr.  Wetherell 
sold  him  to  Col.  Powel,  near  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  but  that  is  an  error.) 
The  bull  arrived  in  Boston,  Mass.  He  remained  in  that  State  until 
the  year  1827  or  '28,  when  he  was  taken  to  Maine,  where  he  died 
April  16,  1830.  We  saw  the  bull  in  Massachusetts  in  the  year  1822, 
then  owned  by  Mr.  Williams.  He  was  a  fine  animal. 

In  1818  Mr.  Cornelius  Coolidge,  of  Boston,  imported  the  bull 
Ccelebs,  349,  and  cow  Flora,  by  Son  of  Comet  (155),  both  bred  by 
Mr.  Mason,  of  Chilton.  From  them  descended  many  good  animals 
whose  pedigrees  are  in  the  American  Herd  Book. 

About  the  year  i82o-'2i,   Mr.  Law,  of  Baltimore,  or  Washington, 

D.  C.,  imported  the  cow  Rosemary,  by  Flash  (261),  bred  by  Mr. 
Curwen.     Rosemary  afterwards  passed  into  the  possession  of  Col. 
Powel,   of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  from  her  many  distinguished  ani- 
mals of  Kentucky  and  other  States  are  descended.     Mr.  Law  may  at 
the  same  time  have  imported  another  animal  or  two.     If  so,  we  have 
no  account  of  their  names. 

In  1821  the  late  Colonel  John  S.  Skinner,  of  Baltimore,  imported 
for  Governor  Lloyd,  of  Maryland,  the  bull  Champion  (864),  the 
cows  Shepherdess,  by  Magnet  (302),  and  White  Rose,  by  Warrior 
(673) ;  all  these  were  bred  by  Mr.  Coates,  the  first  editor  of  the 

E.  H.  B.     Shepherdess  afterwards  became  the  property  of  Colonel 
Powel.      What  became  of  White  Rose  is  not  known.     She  was  the 
dam  of  Wye  Comet  (1591),  by  Blaize  (76),  got  in  England,  but  born 
in  America,  the  property  of  Mr.  Law.     He  was  afterwards  owned  and 
used  by  Col.  Powel,   and  finally  by  Mr.  Watson,  of  Connecticut. 

In  1822  Mr.  Williams,  of  London,  before  named,  also  sent  to  his 
brother  the  cow  Arabella,  by  North  Star  (460),  bred  by  Mr.  Weth- 
erell. From  her  came  numerous  descendants  whose  pedigrees  are 
found  in  the  several  volumes  of  the  American  Herd  Book. 

In  or  about  the  year  1822  several  cows  were  imported  into  Boston 
by  Messrs.  Lee,  Orr,  Monson,  and  perhaps  others,  chiefly  from  the 
stock  of  Mr.  Wetherell,  before  mentioned ;  among  these  were  Tube- 
rose, by  North  Star  (460),  owned  by  Mr.  Monson,  and  Harriet,  by 


VARIOUS    OTHER    IMPORTATIONS.  173 

Denton  (198),  owned  by  Mr.  Orr.  Both  these  cows  had  full  pedi- 
grees, and  left  several  good  descendants.  The  writer  purchased 
Harriet  in  the  year  1834,  then  14  years  old,  and  unfortunately,  past 
breeding.  She  was  a  fine  cow,  mostly  white  in  color. 

In  1823  Admiral  Sir  Isaac  Coffin,  of  the  British  Navy  (Massachu- 
setts born),  sent  out  to  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Society  the 
bull  Admiral  (1608),  and  cow  Annabella,  by  Major  (398),  from  the 
herd  of  Mr.  Wetherell.  Both  animals  left  many  descendants. 

In  1823  Gen.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  N.  Y. — through 
CoK  Skinner,  as  we  understood — imported  from  the  herd  of  Mr. 
Champion,  the  bull  Washington  (1566),  and  the  cows  Pansy,  by 
Blaize  (76),  and  Conquest.  The  latter  of  these  cows  never  bred,  but 
Pansy  had  several  descendants  by  Washington,  whose  produce  have 
since  been  bred  and  distributed  into  many  States  of  the  Union. 

In  the  year  1822,  and  during  some  years  afterwards,  the  late  Mr. 
Charles  Henry  Hall,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  who  had  previously 
lived  and  done  business  in  different  countries  of  Europe,  imported 
several  Short-horns,  selected  from  some  of  the  best  herds  in  England, 
and  among  them  the  cow  Princess,  by  Lancaster  (360),  bred  in  1816, 
by  Robert  Colling.  Mr.  Hall  resided  on  a  small  farm  at  Harlem, 
then  a  village,  just  out  of  New  York  city,  on  Manhattan  Island.  He 
kept  and  bred  a  few  of  his  Short-horns  there,  but  the  larger  portion 
of  them  were  taken  to  his  farm  in  Greenbush,  near  Albany,  where 
they  were  for  several  years  kept  and  bred.  This  gentleman  was  not 
particularly  mindful  of  keeping  the  pedigrees  of  his  stock,  although 
purely  bred,  and  through  this  inattention  much  of  the  correct  lineage 
of  his  herd  was  lost.  We  knew  Mr.  Hall  personally  for  some  years 
while  breeding  his  cattle,  and  after  he  had  disposed  of  his  herds.  In 
answer  to  our  inquiries  of  their  blood  relations,  his  answers  were  only 
that  "they  were  all  purely  bred,"  but,  preserving  few  memoranda  of 
their  breeding,  he  could  not  give  particulars.  Some  of  them — the 
Princess  family,  for  instance — have  been  registered  correctly  in  the 
American  Herd  Book ;  others  as  only  tracing  to  his  imported  cows 
and  bulls.  This  much,  however,  is  certain :  Mr.  Hall  assured  us  at 
different  times  that  he  had  his  animals  selected  with  great  care  in 
England,  and  he  paid  liberal  prices  for  them.  We  saw  many  of  their 
descendants  between  the  years  1833  and  1840,  and  they  had  every 
appearance  of  well-bred  Short-horns,  with  high  milking  qualities. 

During  the  above  years  of  Mr.  Hall's  importations,  several  gentle- 
men of  New  York,  chiefly  through  his  influence,  imported  some 
valuable  Short-horns,  selected  as  were  Mr.  Hall's,  chiefly,  as  we 


1/4  HISTORY     OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

understood,  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Ashcroft.  These  were  bred 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city,  on  Long  Island,  and  in  Westchester 
county ;  but  their  pedigrees,  on  account  of  their  owners  not  knowing 
their  importance,  were  sadly  neglected.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 
however,  of  the  integrity  of  their  blood.  Some  of  their  descendants 
are  in  the  American  Herd  Book,  tracing  to  the  original  importations. 

In  the  year  1824,  the  late  Col.  John  H.  Powel,  of  Powelton,  near 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  a  gentleman  of  large  wealth  and  public  spirit  in 
agricultural  improvement,  began  the  importation  of  Short-horns,  and 
continued  it  for  some  years.  His  selections  were  mainly,  if  not 
altogether,  from  the  herd  of  Mr.  Jonas  Whitaker,  already  mentioned, 
of  Otley,  in  Yorkshire.  He  bred  them  with  great  attention  and  care 
on  his  home  estate,  and  sold  many  of  their  descendants  into  neigh- 
boring districts  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey.  Some  also  went 
into  New  England,  others  into  Kentucky  and  Ohio..  In  the  cows,  he 
aimed  at  securing  large  milkers,  for  dairy  purposes,  in  which  one  of 
his  families,  the  Belinas,  were  famous  for  their  yields  of  both  milk 
and  butter.  In  1831  he  imported  the  bull  Bertram  (1716),  bred  by 
Mr.  Whitaker.  We  saw  him  in  his  stable  at  Powelton,  in  August  of 
that  year,  then  3  years  old,  a  few  months  after  his  arrival.  In  color 
he  was  red,  with  a  little  white,  a  compact,  massive  form,  short  in 
the  leg,  of  fine  touch,  good  hair,  and  altogether  an  imposing  animal. 
Many  distinguished  animals  of  our  American  herds  trace  into  his 
blood.  Col.  Powel  bred  him  for  some  years  in  his  herd.  We  saw  at 
the  same  time  several  of  his  imported  cows,  among  them  Belina,  by 
Barmpton  (54),  a  famous  milker,  which  yielded  at  the  rate  of  20% 
pounds  of  butter  per  week.  These  cows  struck  us  as  being  of  excel- 
lent quality,  with  indications  of  giving  large  quantities  of  milk,  and 
were  in  rather  low  condition.  They  were  good  in  form,  long  in  body, 
straight  on  the  back,  broad  in  the  hips,  with  fine  heads  and  horns, 
excellent  coats  of  hair,  with  large,  well-shaped  udders  and  teats. 

In  the  year  1828,  Mr.  Francis  Rotch,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  then 
in  England,  sent  out  to  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Benjamin  Rodman, 
also  of  New  Bedford,  the  bull  Devonshire  (966),  and  the  cows  Ade- 
liza,  Dulcibella  and  Galatea,  all  by  Frederick  (1060),  from  the  herd 
of  Mr.  Whitaker,  and  with  good  pedigrees.  Descendants  from  all  of 
them  are  now  found  in  several  good  American  herds. 

In  1834,  ourself  became  the  owner  of  "Devonshire,"  at  8  years 
old,  which  we  purchased  of  Mr.  Rotch,  then  his  possessor.  He  was  red 
roan  in  color,  good  size,  excellent  points,  and  left  us,  as  well  as  his 
previous  owners,  some  excellent  stock.  He  died  at  n  years  old. 


MR.    ROTCH'S    IMPORTATIONS.  1/5 

The  cows,  Adeliza  and  Dulcibella,  both  roan  in  color,  we  have  also 
seen.  They  were  good  cows,  prolific  breeders,  excellent  milkers, 
and  lived  to  be  aged  animals. 

As  Mr.  Rotch  is  the  only  survivor  of  the  enterprising  class  of 
American  gentlemen  who  introduced  the  Short-horns  into  the  United 
States  previous  to  the  year  1834,  we  may  be  pardoned  for  a  further 
brief  mention  of  him.  Contemplating  this  present  work,  we  wrote  to 
him  about  three  years  ago  at  his  rural  home  in  Morris,  Otsego 
county,  N.  Y.,  asking  for  some  reminiscences  of  the  early  American 
Short-horns  to  aid  us  in  the  undertaking.  In  his  answer,  a  brief 
extract  from  which  we  give,  it  will  be  seen  that  at  the  age  of  more 
than  four-score  years,  "his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force 
abated."  The  letter  is  written  in  a  clear,  round  hand,  unshaken,  and 
legible  as  when  in  the  prime  of  his  life : 

"And  now,  my  dear  friend,  having  poured  out  the  fullness  of  my 
heart  [his  previous  sentences  were  on  personal  matters  only],  I  must 
not  expose  the  emptiness  of  n^  head,  and  incapacity  of  my  mind  by 
attempting  to  render  you  much  assistance  in  the  interesting  labor 
you  are  about  to  undertake.  Samuel  Williams,  who  was  bred  a  farm- 
er's boy  in  Massachusetts,  and  became  a  leading  merchant  on  the 
Exchange  of  London,  in  his  prosperity  thought  of  his  brother  at 
home,  and  presuming  no  present  would  be  more  acceptable  than 
some  fine  stock,  sent  him  over  some  Short-horns  from  one  of  the  best 
herds — Mr.  Wetherell's,  in  England.  I  think  with  them  came  out  one 
or  two  heifers  for  a  Boston  gentleman.  It  seemed  to  me  they  were 
not  appreciated,  and  but  for  me  and  an  old  friend  whom  I  interested 
in  the  affair,  their  pedigrees  would  have  been  irrecoverably  lost. 

"When  in  England,  in  1828,  and  making  an  importation  for  my 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Rodman,  I  arrived  at  Otley  just  in  time  to  attend 
the  exhibition  of  stock,  which  was  then  the  great  and  leading  show 
of  the  North  for  Short-horns.  My  sudden  arrival  as  an  American, 
created  much  interest  and  kindly  feeling  which  showed  itself  in  the 
strong  wish  that  I  should  not  go  away  without  obtaining  the  animals 
I  selected,  though  not  intended  for  sale.  *  *  *  * 

"  How  I  would  work  for  you  were  I  ten  years  younger !  How  I 
should  enjoy  it !  But  it  is  too  late.  The  decay  of  intellect,  judg- 
ment, and  memory  in  old  age  is  sad,  and  much  more  sad  when  it  is 
recognized  by  the  individual  himself.  I  do  but  cumber  the  earth." 

Mr.  Rotch  still  survives,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-five  years, 
still  hale  and  vigorous,  enjoying  the  temperate  pleasures  of  his  quiet 
home  in  the  valley  of  "  The  Butternuts,"  and  although  retired  from 


176  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

breeding  his  favorite  blooded  stock,  takes  a  lively  interest  in  what- 
ever appertains  to  their  prosperity  and  value. 

In  the  year  1830  Mr.  Enoch  Silsbey,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  imported 
the  bull  Boston  (1735),  and  cow  Agatha  (alias  Boston  Cow),  by  Sir 
Charles  (1440),  both  bred  by  Mr.  Curry,  of  Northumberland,  Eng. 
These  animals  left  many  descendants,  now  in  several  good  herds. 

The  foregoing  memoranda  completes  the  earlier  era  of  Short-horn 
importations  to  the  United  States.  The  prices  for  which  they  could 
be  sold  was  low  compared  with  their  actual  value.  The  spirit  in 
cultivating  improved  breeds  of  cattle  pervaded  few  districts  of  coun- 
try, and  those  districts  widely  separated.  Communications  between 
the  different  breeders  were  few,  and  inconvenient,  and  little  of  a 
common,  or  of  rival  interests,  existed.  New  England,  with  a  lean  soil, 
for  the  most  part,  a  rigid  climate,  and  a  popular  opinion  generally 
prevailing  among  her  farmers  that  Short-horns  were  great  consumers 
of  food,  and  tender  in  constitution  (both  egregious  mistakes,  when 
the  proper  treatment  and  early  maturit^of  the  race  were  considered), 
looked  upon  them  as  interlopers,  and  introduced  by  "fancy  gentle- 
men" only,  to  have  something  on  their  farms  more  extraordinary 
than  their  humbler,  harder-working  neighbors. 

The  Kentuckians,  and  some  few  stock  breeders  in  Ohio,  most  of 
them  large  landholders,  with  a  rich  soil,  a  mild  climate,  and  abund- 
ant forage,  had  readily  ascertained  their  worth,  and  breeding  on  the 
early  "Patton"  blood  with  the  1817  bulls,  and  cows  exclusively  with 
their  own  bloods,  and  afterwards  with  purchases  from  the  later  Balti- 
more and  Philadelphia  importations,  not  only  held  their  own,  and 
carefully  kept  records  of  their  pedigrees,  but  industriously  increased 
both  in  blood  and  quality  their  cherished  herds.  Still,  for  several 
years  there  was  a  comparative  interregnum  in  Short-horn  progress, 
and  aside  from  the  few  New  England  and  New  York  breeders,  as- 
sisted east  of  the  Alleganies  by  the  persistent  efforts  of  Col.  Powel, 
with  his  fine  herd  at  Powelton,  who  kept  their  pedigrees  intact,  their 
efforts  would  have  succumbed  but  for  the  occasional  demand  for  stock 
from  Kentucky  and  Ohio.  The  cattle  going  westward  then  had  to  be 
traveled  on  foot,  over  hilly  and  mountainous  roads  for  hundreds  of 
miles'  distance,  and  through  a  period  of  several  weeks'  journey  to 
reach  their  new  homes.  There  were  no  railways,  and  hardly  a  canal 
by  which  cattle  could  be  transported,  except  the  Erie,,  through  the 
interior  of  New  York,  which  was  distant  and  out  of  thought  for  a 
Kentuckian  or  southern  Ohioan  to  traverse. 


SUBSEQUENT  NEGLECT  OF  THEM.       177 

Down  to  the  year,  say  1832-3,  most  of  the  Short-horn  breeders  of 
the  States  north  of  Pennsylvania,  understanding  the  importance  of 
true  lineage  in  their  stock,  had  kept  correct  records  of  their  pedi- 
grees, and  registered  many  of  them  in  the  English  Herd  Books. 
Col.  Powel  had  done  the  same.  Yet  several  parties  to  whom  some 
of  these  breeders  had  sold  more  or  less  of  their  stock,  deplorably 
neglected  to  keep  correct  pedigrees  of  either  them  or  their  increase, 
and  through  such  neglect  they  were  irrecoverably  lost.  After  the 
first  interest  in  their  possession  had  passed  away  some  of  the  cows 
were  crossed  with  mean,  or  native  bulls,  their  descendants  became 
grades,  devoted  only  to  common  uses,  and  ultimately  even  thorough- 
bred cows,  in  common  with  grades,  were  fed  off  and  driven  to  the 
shambles. 

12 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

THE  LATER  SHORT-HORN  IMPORTATIONS. 

WE  now  arrive  at  a  new  era  in  American  Short-horns,  dating  in 
the  year  1833;  many  of  the  Kentucky  breeders  being  convinced  by 
a  thirty  years'  trial,  first. on  the  Gough  and  Miller,  or  "Patton" 
stock,  and  again  on  the  importation  of  1817,  and  their  better  known 
successors,  that  there  was  a  decided  improvement  in  the  neat  cattle 
they  were  rearing,  they  felt  the  necessity  of  still  further  progress, 
and  also  that  the  material  needed  should  be  obtained  from  a  source 
where  the  best  specimens  then  existed.  The  late  Mr.  Walter  Dun, 
an  enterprising  Scotch  gentleman,  residing  near  Lexington,  Ky.,  in 
1833,  sent  out  a  commission  to  a  friend,  Mr.  William  Douglass,  living 
in  the  south  of  Scotland,  with  ample  funds  at  command,  to  go  into 
Yorkshire  and  purchase  several  Short-horn  cattle,  the  animals  to  be 
of  the  best  quality,  without  regard  to  any  reasonable  price  to  be  paid 
for  them. 

The  entire  correspondence  between  the  parties  connected  with  this 
transaction  has  been  submitted  to  us  for  examination.  The  instructions 
were  faithfully  executed,  and  six  animals  sent  out  in  accordance  with 
them.  The  importation  consisted  of  the  bull  Symmetry  (5382),  and 
cows  Caroline,  Daisy,  Multiflora,  Red  Rose,  and  White  Rose.  The 
cows  are  recorded  in  Vols.  2  and  7,  A.  H.  B.  Some  of  the  bulls  occur- 
ring in  their  pedigrees  were  not  recorded  in  the  English  Herd  Book 
at  the  time  of  their  purchase,  but  we  have  carefully  examined  the 
original  certificates  sent  to  this  country  wrth,  and  relating  to  them. 
The  lineage  of  that  importation,  may  be  found  in  Vols.  2  to  10, 
inclusive,  of  the  American  Herd  Book.  There  need  be  no  question 
of  the  purity  of  their  descent.  The  cattle  were  shipped  at  Liverpool, 
Eng.,  September  5,  1833,  bound  to  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  safely 
arrived  in  Kentucky  on  the  26th  November  following,  where  they 
were  heartily  welcomed  both  by  the  owner  and  the  Short-horn  breed- 
ers generally.  They  were  there  bred  successfully.  Their  produce, 
in  the  course  of  years,  became  widely  disseminated,  and  are  now 


MR.    WALTER    DUN'S    IMPORTATIONS.  179 

numerously  found  in  many  of  the  good  herds  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and 
other  States. 

Although  later  in  point  of  time  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Dun  did  not 
cease  with  the  importation  of  1833.  Breaking  through  the  chrono- 
logical order  of  dates,  in  order  to  complete  his  introduction  of  Short- 
horn stock  to  America,  we  follow  out  his  transactions. 

In  the  year  1836  Mr.  Dun  in  connection  with  Mr.  Samuel  Smith, 
of  Fayette  county,  Ky.  (son  of  Mr.  William  Smith,  who  was  con- 
nected with  the  Kentucky  importations  of  1817,  previously  men- 
tioned), sent  another  order  to  England  for  Short-horns.  In  compliance 
with  the  order  the  bulls  George  (2059),  Comet,  356  (1854),  and  bull 
calf  Otley  (4632),  together  with  the  cows  Adelaide,  by  Magnum 
Bonum  (2243),  Beauty  of  Wharfdale,  by  Brutus  (1752),  Jewess,  and 
Mary  Ann  (dam  of  Otley),  by  Middlesbro  (1234),  arrived  in  Ken- 
tucky. These  animals  were  also  selected  in  England  by  Mr.  Douglass, 
before  mentioned.  They  were  placed  on  the  separate  farms  of  the 
proprietors  and  successfully  bred. 

In  the  year  1838  Mr.  Dun  on  his  own  account  made  another  im- 
portation, consisting  of  the  cows  Premium,  by  Maximus  (2284),  with 
her  bull  calf  Otho,  794,  and  Young  Charlotte,  by  Thorp  (2757),  with 
her  bull  calf  Tarick,  1022.  These  animals  did  not  arrive  in  Ken- 
tucky until  the  fall  of  the  year,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Dun,  which 
occurred  August  4,  1838. 

Mr.  Smith,  the  partner  of  Mr.  Dun,  had  died  a  few  months  before 
the  latter  gentleman's  death  occurred.  His  entire  herd  was  sold  at 
public  auction  a  few  months  afterwards,  and  the  joint  remaining  stock 
of  the  two  were  sold  with  them  under  the  orders  of  their  several 
executors,  September  n,  1838.  The  list  of  the  partnership  animals, 
their  purchasers  and  prices,  were  as  follows : 

Cows. 

Adelaide,  sold  to  R.  T.  Dillard  and  C.  R.  Ferguson, $1,375 

Beauty  of  Wharfdale,  sold  to  F.  S.  Read 755 

Adeline,  sold  to  J.  Kinnard  and  Thomas  Wallace, 1,030 

Young  Adeline,  sold  to  R.  P.  Kenney, 440 

Mary  Ann  and  calf  Otley,  10  days  old,  sold  to  R.  G.  Jackson  and  B. 

P.  Gray, 2,100 

Prudence,  sold  to  E.  S.  Washington 755 

Jewess  (barren),  sold  to  J.  Matson  and  J.  Spear, 276 

At  the  same  sale  many  other  thorough-bred  Short-horns  and  grade 
animals,  upwards  of  thirty  in  number,  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Mr. 


180  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORTTHORNS. 

Smith,  were  disposed  of,  all  the  animals  bringing  good  prices.     Among 
the  former  were 

Cow  Cleopatra,  sold  to  C.  C.  Morgan,  for $1,230 

Cow  Ellen,  sold  to  R.  T.  Dillard  and  C.  R.  Ferguson,  for 1,235 

Bull  Oliver  Keen,  5  months  old,  sold  to  W.  S.  Hume,  for 1,000 

For  the  imported  bull  Comet,  356,  which  had,  previous  to  the  sale, 
become  the  sole  property  of  Mr.  Dun,  $3,000  was  offered  by  Mr. 
Gray,  one  of  the  purchasers  of  Mary  Ann.  The  offer  was  refused, 
the  herd  of  Mr.  Dun  remaining  in  the  possession  of  his  family  under 
charge  of  his  executor,  Mr.  John  G.  Dun. 

The  young  imported  bull  Otley  (4632)  had  been  previously  sold 
for  $2,100  to  Messrs.  Wasson  and  Shropshire,  of  Bourbon  county,  Ky. 


"THE  OHIO  COMPANY  FOR  IMPORTING  ENGLISH  CATTLE." 

Excited  somewhat,  probably,  by  the  recent  Dun  importation,  in 
the  year  1834  several  spirited  cattle  breeders  of  the  Scioto  valley 
and  neighboring  counties  in  Ohio,  associated  and  selected  an  agent — 
the  late  Mr.  Felix  Renick,  of  Chillicothe — who,  with  two  assistants, 
Edwin  J.  Harness  and  Josiah  Renick,  proceeded  to  England  early  in 
that  year  for  the  purchase  of  a  herd  of  Short-horns.  It  was  a  pro- 
pitious time.  The  prices  for  good  stock  of  the  kind  in  England  were 
then  low.  Mr.  Renick  bought  some  from  Mr.  Whitaker,  at  Otley, 
Yorkshire,  who  had  previously  sent  out  many  cattle  to  Col.  Powel. 
He  had  a  large  herd  of  his  own,  his  acquaintance  with  other  breeders 
was  extensive,  and  Mr.  Renick  had  good  facilities  for  making  selec- 
tions from  some  of  the  best  herds,  and  at  prices  within  the  means  at 
his  disposal.  During  Mr.  Renick's  stay  in  England  he  purchased 
nineteen  Short-horns — bulls  and  heifers.  They  were  from  various 
eminent  breeders  living  in  or  near  the  valley  of  the  Tees.  All  the 
animals  were  thorough-bred,  and,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  which 
could  not  be  then  readily  obtained,  had  excellent  pedigrees.  They 
were  duly  shipped  and  arrived  in  Philadelphia  during  the  summer, 
and  driven  over  the  mountains  into  Ohio,  where  they  were  kept  on 
Mr.  Renick's  farm,  near  Chillicothe,  and  bred  as  the  joint  property 
of  the  Association. 

In  the  succeeding  years,  1835  and  '36,  two  further  importations, 
selected  from  equally  good  herds  as  the  previous  importation  of  1834, 
were  made  by  the  same  Association.  These  animals  arrived  in 
New  York,  and  were  transported  to  Ohio,  via  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo, 


OHIO    IMPORTING    COMPANY'S    SALES.  iSl 

thence  by  Lake  to  Cleveland,  and  from  there  to  Chillicothe,  where 
they  joined  the  earlier  importation.  The  cattle  were  thus  kept  until 
October,  1836,  when  the  entire  herd,  consisting  of  the  several  impor- 
tations and  their  produce,  were  sold  at  public  auction.  There  were 
seventy-five  bulls  and  cows  comprised  in  the  entire  herd,  according 
to  the  printed  catalogue  at  the  time.  The  number  of  produce  was 
not  large,  as  many  of  the  females  were  only  young  heifers  when  im- 
ported, and  the  limited  increase  in  but  two  years  is  thus  readily 
accounted  for. 

At  the  sale  a  large  attendance  congregated,  chiefly  from  Ohio,  with 
some  from  Kentucky,  and  a  few  breeders  from  other  States.  The 
bidding  was  eager  and  spirited;  prices  went  high,  as  many  of  the 
bidders  were  stockholders,  buying  their  own  goods,  yet  several  out- 
side parties  made  purchases  at  equal  prices  with  the  others. 

As  this  was  the  most  important  and  numerous  sale  ever  made  in 
America,  down  to  that  time,  a  full  account,  copied  from  The  Stioto 
Gazette,  October  26,  1836,  is  herewith  given,  with  purchasers  names 
and  some  other  items  added  : 

BULLS. 

Matchem  (2283),  Abm.  Renick,  Clark  county,  Ky., $1,200 

Earl  of  Darlington  (1944),  Batteal  Harrison,  Fayette  county,  Ohio,  710 

Young  Waterloo  (2817),  R.  D.  Lilly,  Highland  county,  Ohio, 1,250 

Duke  of  York  (1941),  R.  R.  Seymour,  Ross  county,  Ohio, ,120 

Greenholme  Experiment  (2075),  J.  M.  Trimble,  Highland  county,  O.  ,150 

Comet  Halley  (1855),  R.  R.  Seymour,  Ross  county,  Ohio, ,505 

Goldfinder  (2066),  Isaac  Cunningham,  Bourbon  county,  Ky., ,095 

Whitaker  (2836),  William  M.  Anderson,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 855 

Nimrod  (2371),  Elias  Florence,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio, ,040 

Duke  of  Norfolk  (1939),  Robert  Stewart,  Ross  county,  Ohio, ,225 

Duke  of  Leeds  (1938),  John  Grouse,  Jr.,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 575 

Windham  (2845),  Charles  Davis,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 500 

Davy  Crocket  (3571),  Peter  L.  Ayers,  Ohio, 490 

Snowdrop  (2654),  Stewart  &  McNiel,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 480 

Independence  (2152),  Hagler  &  Peterson,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 400 

Perry  (not  recorded),  by  Reformer  (2505),  out  of  Teeswater,  W.  H. 

Creighton,  Madison  county,  Ohio, 4°° 

Goliah  (2068),  Isaac  Cunningham,  Bourbon  county,  Ky., 300 

Logan  (2218),  Elias  Florence,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio, 750 

John  Bull  (2161),  William  Renick,  Jr.,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio, 615 

Paragon  of  the  West  (4649),  presented  by  the  company  to  their 

agent,  Felix  Renick,  Ross  county,  Ohio. 
Powhatan,  828^,  with  his  dam  Flora,  Geo.  Renick,  Ross  county,  O. 

Rantipole,  885  (2478),  Arthur  Watts,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 810 

Reformer  (2505),  unsound.  J.  T.  Webb,  Ross  county,  Ohio 48 


182  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


Cows. 

Gaudy,  by  a  son  of  Young  Albion  (15),  J.  M.  Trimble,  Highland 

county,  Ohio, $810 

Blossom,  by  Fitz  Favorite  (1042),  R.  R.  Seymour,  Ross  county,  O.  1,000 
Flora,  by  a  son  of  Young  Albion  (15),  and  her  bull  calf  Powhatan, 

828,^,  George  Renick,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 1,205 

Lily  of  the  Valley  of  the  Tees,  by  Young  Rockingham  (2547),  Thos. 

Huston,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio, 950 

Matilda,  by  Imperial  (2151),  Arthur  Watts,  Ross  county,  Ohio 1,000 

Calypso,  by  Bertram  (1716),  Strawder  McNeill,  Ross  county,  Ohio,  325 
Young  Mary,  by  Jupiter  (2170),  and  cow  calf  Pocahontas,  E.  J. 

Harness,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 1,500 

Lady  Blanche,  by  Prince  William  (1344),  not  a  breeder,  Charles 

Davis,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 250 

Teeswater,  by  Belvedere  (1706),  and  her  cow  calf  Countess,  by  Comet 

Halley  (1855),  John  J.  Vanmeter,  Pike  county,  Ohio, 2,225 

Duchess  of  Liverpool  (pedigree  not  obtained),  Wm.  M.  Anderson, 

Ross  county,  Ohio, 570 

Lady  Colling,  by  Magnum  Bonum  (2243),  not  a  breeder,  J.  T.Webb, 

Ross  county,  Ohio, 205 

Beauty  of  the  West  (pedigree  not  given),  Asahel  Renick,  Pickaway 

county,  Ohio, goo 

Lilac,  by  Rantipole,  885  (2478),  Elias  Florence,  Pickaway  county,  O.  425 
Lady  of  the  Lake,  by  Reformer  (2505),  R.  R.  Seymour,  Ross  Co.,  O. 

Lady  Paley,  by  Rantipole,  885  (2478),  Alex.  Renick,  Ross  county,  O.  510 

Poppy,  by  Rantipole,  885  (2478),  Harness  Renick,  Pickaway  Co.,  O.  610 

Pink,  by  Duke  of  York  (1941),  Wm.  Trimble,  Highland  county,  O.  575 

Mayflower,  by  Duke  of  York  (1941),   Batteal  Harrison,   Fayette  405 

county,  Ohio, 405 

Lucy,  by  Duke  of  York  (1941),  Geo.  Ratcliff,  Pickaway  county,  O.  505 

Moss  Rose,  by  Stapleton  (2698),  Jonathan  Renick,  Pickaway  Co.,  O.  1,200 

Calestina,  by  Atlas  (1660),  T.  Huston,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio 930 

Malina,  by  Atlas  (1660),  Isaac  Cunningham,  Bourbon  county,  Ky.  1,005 

Illustrious,  by  Emperor  (1974),  Abm.  Renick,  Clark  county,  Ky.. .  775 
Lady  Abernethy,  by  Physician  (2426),  Thomas  Huston,  Pickaway 

county,  Ohio, 815 

On  the  ist  April,  1837,  a  meeting  of  the  company  was  held  at 
Chillicothe  to  close  up  their  affairs  and  dispose  of  some  remaining 
animals,  which  were  not  taken  at  the  sale,  and  others  not  then  offered. 
The  following  were  thus  sold  on  i5th  April,  1837  : 

BULLS. 

Acmon  (1606),  M.  L.  Sullivant,  Columbus,  Ohio, $2,500 

Comet  Halley  (1855),  George  Renick  &  Co.,  Ross  county,  Ohio,. . .  2,500 

Hazlewood  (2098),  A.  Trimble  and  R.  R.  Seymour, 700 


OHIO    IMPORTING    COMPANY'S    SALES.  183 

Bouncer,  13209,  John  Walke,    Pickaway  county,  Ohio, $453 

Powhatan,  828^,  Harness  Renick,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio 500 

Santa  Anna  (3^  months  old,  not  recorded),  C.  Vance,  Ohio  Co.,  Va.        425 

Cows. 

Flora,  by  a  son  of  Young  Albion  (15),  M.  L.  Sullivant,  Columbus,  O.  1,300 

Matilda,  by  Imperial  (2151),  Allen  Trimble,  Highland  county,  Ohio,  1,220 
Fidelia,  by  Comet  Halley  (1855),  7#  months  old,  Allen  Trimble, 

Highland  county,  Ohio, 610 

Elizabeth,  by ,  and  calf,  J.  &  W.  Vance,  Champaign  Co.,  O.  1,450 

Charlotte,  by ,  Joseph  G.  White,  Ross  county,  Ohio, 630 

Arabella,  by  Victory  (5566),  and  calf,  Arthur  Watts,  Ross  county,  O.  1,200 

Blush,  by ,  J.  H.  James,  Urbana,  Ohio, 1,015 

Emily,  by ,  Asahel  Renick,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio 875 

Victoress,  by  Norfolk  (2377),  M.  L.  Sullivant,  Columbus,  Ohio, 700 

Thus  closed  the  sales  of  ihese  memorable  importations.  The  com- 
pany reaped  a  large  profit  on  their  investment,  and  conferred  a 
lasting  benefit  on  the  neat  stock  interests  of  the  country,  as  well  as 
awakened  a  spirit  through  various  other  States  for  forming  associa- 
tions of  like  character  and  results. 

At  a  period  of  thirty-five  years,  from  the  time  of  the  Chillicothe 
sales,  the  pedigrees  of  hundreds  of  the  descendants  of  most  of  those 
animals  can  be  found  recorded  in  the  American  Herd  Book,  while 
others,  through  various  causes,  so  far  as  public  records  are  con- 
cerned, have  become  almost,  if  not  wholly,  extinct. 

After  the  sales  of  the  Ohio  Company,  importations  multiplied 
apace.  Agricultural  prices  in  products  had  been  gradually  strength- 
ening for  the  few  past  years,  and  meats  bore  good  rates  in  both  our 
home  and  foreign  markets.  Money  had  been  unusually  abundant  for 
two  years  past,  owing  to  the  rival  and  conflicting  measures  of  political 
parties  in  the  general  government,  and  a  consequent  false  estimate  of 
the  ability  of  the  people  to  extend  their  credits  and  plunge  into  all 
sorts  of  speculation.  The  farmers  throughout  the  country  felt  rich, 
and  among  other  items  of  speculative  value  it  is  no  wonder  that  the 
noble  race  of  Short-horn  cattle  became  an  attractive  object  with 
portions  of  the  agricultural  community  as  well  as  many  men  of  means 
whose  tastes  sympathized  in  their  pursuits.  Thus  importations  of 
them  were  sought,  commissions  were  sent  to  England,  and  several 
new  purchasers  went  out  to  select  and  bring  cattle  here  where  prices 
ruled  high  and  sales  were  rapidly  made,  particularly  in  Kentucky 
and  Ohio. 


184  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

It  is  difficult  at  this  space  of  time  (now  thirty-five  years  since,  with 
the  notices  and  dates  of  their  arrival  only  chronicled  in  the  scat- 
tered agricultural  periodicals  of  the  day,  and  the  memories  of  living 
men  not  exact),  to  enumerate  the  names  of  all  the  animals  imported, 
or  the  parties  owning  them  from  the  year  1836  to  1842.  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  say,  however,  that  the  importing  parties  were  many,  and 
their  animals  numerous.  The  accounts,  so  far  as  we  have  been  en- 
abled to  gather  them,  (but  perhaps  not  in  exact  chronological  order,) 
will  be  given. 

About  the  year  1835  or  '36,  Mr.  Thomas  Weddle  an  Englishman, 
emigrated  with  his  family  from  Yorkshire,  Eng.,  into  Western  New 
York,  and  brought  with  him  a  dozen  or  more  good  Short-horns,  all 
having  good  pedigrees,  and  chiefly  from  the  herd  of  Major  Bower,  a 
well-known  breeder  of  Welham,  Yorkshire.  Among  them  were  the 
bull  Charles  (1816) ;  Welland  10843^,  and  one  or  two  others.  Among 
the  cows  were  Crocus,  by  Romulus  (2563);  Primrose,  by  Pioneer 
(1321);  Daisy,  by  Ebor  (3681),  and  several  more.  Mr.  Weddle  bred 
his  herd  several  years,  selling  as  opportunity  presented,  at  good  prices ; 
yet,  not  accustomed  to  the  business,  he  was  careless  in  the  records  of 
his  herd,  and  although  he  had  the  ability,  from  the  pedigrees  of  his 
originals,  to  perpetuate  the  genealogy  of  their  increase,  the  lineage  of 
many  of  them  was  irrecoverably  lost,  or  if  not  entirely  so,  they  could 
»nly  be  traced  to  the  importation  in  general  terms.  In  the  course  of 
a  few  years,  Mr.  Weddle  going  into  other  pursuits  than  farming,  his 
herd  was  sold  and  dispersed ;  some  of  them  going  into  Kentucky, 
and  others  remaining  in  New  York. 

In  the  year  1835  or  '36,  possibly  a  year  or  two  earlier,  Mr.  Ezra  P. 
Prentice,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  began  breeding  at  his  villa  farm,  near  the 
city,  a  small  herd  of  Short-horns  selected  chiefly  from  the  stock  of 
Gen.  Van  Rensselaer,  already  noticed.  In  1838,  '39,  '40,  '41,  he  im- 
ported a  number  of  choice  Short-horns  from  various  herds  in  England. 
Among  them  were  the  bulls  Fairfax,  61  (3754);  O'Connell,  118;  and 
cows  Appolonia,  by  Albion  (2965);  Aurora,  by  William  (2839); 
Catherine,  by  Sir  Robert  (5181);  Esterville,  by  Alfred  (2987);  Flora, 
by  Imperial  (2151);  Moss  Rose,  by  Barden  (1674);  Princess,  by 
Henry  (4008);  Splendor,  by  Symmetry  (2723);  Susan,  by  Dutchman 
(3669);  and  Violanta,  by  Charles  (1815).  He  bred  his  stock,  both 
of  American  birth  and  imported,  with  great  skill  and  decided  suc- 
cess, selling  many  animals  into  New  York,  and  several  other  States, 
until  the  year  1850,  when  at  a  public  sale  he  disposed  of  his  entire 
herd.  Mr.  Prentice  was  greatly  attached  to  his  stock,  but  the  city 


GEORGE    VAIL'S    IMPORTA 

had  encroached  upon  him,  rendering  the  necessary  accommodations 
for  his  cattle  stock  impossible,  and  with  reluctance  he  parted  with 
his  herd,  then  nearly  forty  in  number,  and  one  of  the  best,  at  the 
time,  in  the  country. 

About  the  same  time,  1835  or  '36,  or  soon  after  Mr.  Prentice, 
Mr.  George  Vail,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  began  breeding  Short-horns  at  his 
villa  farm,  near  that  city.  He  purchased  some  imported  animals, 
and  others,  selecting  them  with  care  and  judgment.  In  the  year  1839 
he  imported  direct  from  Mr.  Thomas  Bates,  of  Durham,  Eng.,  the 
bull  Duke  of  Wellington,  55  (3654),  got  by  Short  Tail  (2621), 
out  of  Oxford  Premium  Cow,  by  Duke  of  Cleveland  (1937);  the 
first  one  of  the  Duchess  and  Oxford  crosses  combined,  which  had 
been  brought  into  America.  With  him  came  the  cow  Duchess,  by 
Duke  of  Northumberland  (1940).  Although  called  Duchess,  she  was 
not,  on  the  dam's  side,  of  .the  Duchess  tribe  so  long  identified  with 
Mr.  Bates'  breeding,  but  running,  after  her  dam,  by  Belvedere  (1706), 
into  another  family.  This  cow,  after  producing  the  bulls  Meteor,  104, 
and  Symmetry,  166,  (both  by  Duke  of  Wellington,  55,)  died,  leaving 
no  female  progeny. 

During  several  successive  years  Mr.  Vail  made  importations  from 
Mr.  Bates'  and  Mr.  Bell's  herds,  of  crosses  with  the  Duchess  and 
Oxford  bulls,  and  various  families  of  their  well-bred  cows,  down 
to  the  year  1851.  Among  them  were  the  bull  Earl  Derby,  456;  and 
the  cows,  Cecelia,  by  3d  Duke  of  Northumberland  (3647);  Hilpa, 
by  Cleveland  Lad  (3407);  Lady  Barrington  3d,  by  Cleveland  Lad 
(3407);  Arabella,  by  4th  Duke  of  Northumberland  (3649);  Yarm 
Lass,  by  4th  Duke  of  York  (10167) ;  Yorkshire  Countess,  by  3d  Duke 
of  York  (10166);  Agate,  by  3d  Duke  of  York  (10166);  Boukie,  by 
4th  Duke  of  York  (10167  ;  Bright  Eyes  3d,  by  Earl  of  Derby  (10177)  J 
Frantic,  by  4th  Duke  of  York  (10167). 

To  the  above  named  were  added  some  from  other  importations. 
Mr.  Vail  was  enthusiastic  in  the  love  he  bore  to  his  cattle ;  he  bred 
successfully,  making  many  and  frequent  sales  until  the  month  of 
October,  1852,  when  he  disposed  of  his  entire  herd. 

About  the  year  1836,  Mr.  Erastus  Corning,  of  Albany,  imported  the 
cow  Wildair,  by  Anthony  (1640).  She  bred  successfully,  and  her 
descendants  are  now  found  in  the  American  Herd  Book.  There 
may  have  been  another  or  two  heifers,  and  possibly  a  bull  in  the 
importation,  but  of  them  we  have  no  particular  account. 

Sometime  between  the  years  1835-40,  Messrs.  James  Gowen, 
Dennis  Kelley,  and  perhaps  another  or  two  associates  in  the  neigh- 


186  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

borhood  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  either  jointly  or  severally  imported 
from  England,  or  purchased  from  Mr.  Whitaker's  importation  in  some 
of  those  years,  some  Short-horn  bulls  and  cows,  which  were  said  to 
be  of  good  quality  and  full  pedigrees.  Several  progeny  descended 
from  these  animals,  and  a  few  stray  ones,  through  the  hands  of  other 
parties  whose  stock  run  into  them,  have  been  hunted  up,  and  their 
pedigrees  recorded  in  the  American  Herd  Book.  But  from  the 
neglect  or  indifference  of  their  proper  owners,  many  of  their  pedi- 
grees, together  with  the  cattle  themselves,  have  been  lost,  and  only 
occasional  traces  can  now  be  found  of  them. 

A  striking  instance  of  the  self-sufficiency  of  some  men,  in  their 
own  pretensions  in  one  of  these  cases,  as  well  as  in  some  others  of 
past  days  in  the  matter  of  pedigrees  may  be  given.  When  a  certain 
party  was  asked  if  he  put  the  pedigrees  of  his  cattle  in  the  Herd 
Book,  he  scornfully  answered  :  "  No  !  if  my  word  is  not  good  enough 
evidence  of  their  pure  breeding,  no  Herd  Book  record  can  make  it 
any  better."  We  fancy  that  most  cattle  breeders  would  rather  have 
a  clean  Herd  Book  record  than  the  bare  assertion,  from  the  imperfect 
memory  of  any  man.  Through  such  lofty  assumptions  many  other- 
wise valuable  pedigrees  of  good  Short-horns  in  this  country  have 
been  lost. 

In  the  year  1836  Messrs.  Edward  A.  Le  Roy  and  Thomas  H.  New- 
bould,  at  Avon,  Livingston  county,  N.  Y.,  imported  from  England  the 
bull  Windle,  185  (5667),  and  the  cows  Dione,  by  Monarch  (4494); 
Lady  Morris,  by  Priam  (4758);  Netherby,  by  Gambier  (2047);  and 
Venus,  by  Magnum  Bonum  (2244) — a  choice  selection.  The  stock 
was  carefully  bred  for  eight  or  ten  years,  occasional  sales  during  the 
time  being  made  from  them.  Soon  afterwards  these  gentlemen  mak- 
ing sale  of  their  farms  the  stock  was  likewise  sold,  and  the  herds 
scattered. 

About  the  same  time  as  the  above,  the  late  Mr.  Peter  A.  Remson, 
of  Alexander,  Genesee  county,  N.  Y.,  imported  the  bull  Alexander,  4, 
and  the  cows  Adelaide,  by  Cupid  (1894)  ;  Lavinia,  by  a  son  of  Scipio 
(1421);  and  Prettyface,  by  Henwood  (2114).  Mr.  Remson  bred 
them  for  some  years,  and  sold  several  of  them  and  their  produce 
while  at  Alexander.  On  selling  his  farm  in  184-,  he  soon  afterwards 
removed  the  few  remaining  ones  to  another  farm,  which  he  occupied 
in  Maryland,  where,  within  two  or  three  years,  they  were  finally  sold, 
and  further  traces  of  them  lost,  except  as  some  of  the  pedigrees  of 
their  descendants  have  since  appeared  in  the  American  Herd  Book. 


WHITAKER'S  AND  OTHER  IMPORTATIONS.    187 

In  August,  1837,  Mr.  Jonas  Whitaker,  of  Yorkshire,  Eng.,  before 
named,  imported  a  herd  of  15  bulls  and  19  cows  and  heifers  into 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  placed  them  on  the  farm  of  Col.  Powel,  at 
Powelton,  near  the  city.  They  were  a  good  herd,  and  in  high  condi- 
tion, with  good  pedigrees,  as  we  saw  them  a  few  days  previous  to  the 
sale.  They  had  been  widely  advertised,  and  at  the  day  of  sale  drew 
a  numerous  attendance  of  Short-horn  breeders  from  the  surrounding 
States,  and  some  from  the  more  distant  States  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky. 
The  prices  for  the  bulls  averaged  $353,  and  for  the  cows  $480, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  $14,215.  Several  of  the  cattle  went 
to  Kentucky,  some  to  Ohio,  and  others  to  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
States  adjoining. 

Mr.  Whitaker  repeated  his  importations  to  some  extent  in  1838-9, 
but  the  average  prices  falling  off  in  the  latter  year  he  made  no  further 
importations.  The  late  Mr.  William  Neff,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  pur- 
chased several  animals  at  Mr.  Whitaker's  sales,  and  successfully  bred 
them.  Many  American  recorded  pedigrees  trace  to  his  herd. 

At  the  last  sale,  in  1839,  eight  cows  sold  for  $3,672,  being  an  aver- 
age of  $459  each.  The  bull  Sir  Robert  (we  have  not  his  pedigree 
number,  if  recorded)  sold  for  $700.  Several  other  animals  were  sold 
at  the  same  time,  but  we  have  not  seen  any  report  of  their  prices. 

In  1837  to  1839,  Messrs.  James  Shelby  and  Henry  Clay,  Jr.,  of 
Kentucky,  made  importations  of  several  fine  cattle,  some  of  which 
they  kept  and  bred  for  a  time,  and  others  were  sold  soon  after  their 
arrival  in  Kentucky.  In  1837  they  imported  ten  cows  and  one  bull, 
Don  John,  426.  At  a  sale  of  Mr.  Clay,  Jr.,  in  Lexington,  in  the 
autumn  of  1839,  the  following  females  were  sold  at  a  public  auction 
with  prices  attached : 

Victoria,  2  years  old, $835 

Victoria,  3     "        " 745 

Venus,      5     "        "    210 

Fanny,     I     "        "    520 

Duchess,  4  mos.    "    34° 

Jane,        9     "        "    300 

Daphne,  5     "        "    (sick,) 230 

Beauty,    2  years   "    (doubtful  breeder,) 176 

Average,  $419^  each. 

About  the  year  1837  or  '38,  the  late  Mr.  Henry  Whitney,  of  Mor- 
ristown,  N.  J.,  imported  two  Short-horns.  We  have  no  account  of 
the  individual  animals  or  their  names,  but  from  the  records  of  their 
produce  in  Vol.  i,  A.  H.  B.,  we  infer  that  one  of  them  was  the  bull 


188  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Birmingham  (3152),  and  the  other  was  the  cow  Ringlet,  by  Belshaz- 
zar  (1704).  Whether  any  other  cattle  were  imported  by  Mr.  Whitney 
we  have  no  information. 

About  the  same  time  as  the  above,  the  late  Mr.  William  Gibbons, 
of  Madison,  N.  J.,  imported  the  bull  Majestic  (2249),  and  the  cow 
Volage  (bred  by  Mr.  Whitaker),  by  Charles  (878).  The  cow  bred 
the  bull  Zero  190  (by  Majestic).  Of  her  and  her  breeding  we  have 
no  further  account,  as  Mr.  Gibbons  took  little  fancy  to  cattle  of  any 
kind,  his  taste  running  to  blooded  horses,  of  which  he  bred  several 
of  high  repute  in  the  turf  annals  of  his  time. 

Dr.  Samuel  D.  Martin,  Pine  Grove,  Clark  county,  Ky.,  in  addition 
to  a  herd  of  Short-horns  which  he  had  some  years  before  established, 
in  the  year  1839,  in  conjunction  with  Messrs.  Hubbard  and  J.  P. 
Taylor,  sent  an  order  to  England  and  imported  four  cows  and  a 
heifer  calf,  viz. :  Beauty,  by  Laurel  (2181),  bred  by  Mr.  Parker; 
Jessy,  by  Plenipo  (4724),  bred  by  A.  L.  Maynard;  Leonida,  by  Red 
Simon  (2499),  bred  by  Mr.  Peacock ;  Sprightly,  by  Fitz  Roslyn  (2026), 
bred  by  Mr.  Paley;  and  the  calf  Rosalie,  by  Cadet  (1770),  bred  by 
Mr.  Paley.  Three  of  the  cows  were  in  calf  before  leaving  England. 
Sprightly  produced  twin  bulls:  Specie  (5289),  and  Speculation  (5263), 
by  Mendoza  (4456);  Beauty  produced  Bullion  (3240),  by  Lofty 
(2217) ;  and  Jessy  produced  the  heifer  Jessamine,  by  Leonidas  (4211). 
These  cows  all  proved  good  animals,  and  excellent  milkers.  Many 
of  the  produce  are  recorded  in  the  American  Herd  Book. 

It  is  probable  that  about  those  years  some  other  importations  of  a 
few  Short-horns  were  made  by  gentlemen  living  in  our  Eastern  cities, 
which  were  placed  on  their  country  places  in  their  several  vicinities, 
but  as  they  were  simply  amateurs,  caring  little  or  nothing  for  pedi- 
grees, and  the  novelty  of  their  possession  soon  abating,  the  cattle 
themselves,  and  their  produce,  pedigrees,  and  history,  were  ultimately 
absorbed,  or  lost  in  the  common  stock  of  the  country. 

In  the  year  1837  or  '38,  Mr.  John  F.  Sheaffe  established  a  choice  herd 
at  his  farm  and  country  residence  at  New  Hamburgh,  Dutchess 
county,  N.  Y.,  on  the  Hudson.  They  were  chiefly  descendants  from 
the  New  England  importations.  To  them  in  1843  he  added  several 
cows  which  he  imported,  among  which  was  Seraphina,  by  Wharfdale 
(1578).  The  other  names  are  not  now  recollected. 

In  1848  Mr.  Sheaffe  imported  the  bull  Duke  of  Exeter,  449  (10152), 
then  a  calf,  bred  by  Mr.  John  Stephenson,  Wolviston,  Eng.,  a  valuable 
animal,  chiefly  of  the  Princess  tribe  of  blood.  This  bull  made  a 
marked  impression  by  way  of  improvement  on  his  produce.  He  was 


SHEAFFE'S  AND  OTHER  IMPORTATIONS.     189 

mainly  yellow-red  in  color,  and  a  remarkably  fine  handler.  At  two 
and  a  half  years  old,  at  the  final  sale  of  Mr.  Sheaffe's  herd,  he  became 
the  property  of  the  writer,  and  for  two  years  longer  bred  with  signal 
success.  He  died  at  six  years  old  of  inflammation  in  the  kidneys. 

Mr.  Sheaffe  bred  his  herd  successfully  until  1850,  when,  going  on  a 
prolonged  absence  to  Europe,  the  stock  were  sold,  and  distributed  into 
several  hands,  who  have  since  placed  the  pedigrees  of  their  descend- 
ants in  many  pages  of  the  American  Herd  Book. 

In  1838  the  late  Dr.  John  A.  Poole,  of  New  Brunswick,  N.  J., 
imported  the  cows  Fanny,  by  Charley  (1817);  Maria,  by  Kenwood 
(2114),  and  possibly  others.  Dr.  Poole's  house  was  burned  in  1842, 
and  his  Short-horn  papers  were  destroyed. 

In  1843,  and  partially  contemporary  with  Mr.  Sheaffe,  Mr.  James 
Lenox,  of  New  York,  owning  a  fine  country  residence  and  farm 
adjoining  Mr.  Sheaffe,  imported  several  good  Short-horns.  Among 
them  were  the  bulls  King  Charles  2d,  84  (4154) ;  Prince  Albert,  133 
(4809) ;  and  cows  Daffodil,  by  Sampson  (5081) ;  Gayly,  by  Sir  Thomas 
Fairfax  (5196);  and  Red  Lady,  by  Hubback  (2142);  all  from  the 
herd  of  Jonas  Whitaker,  of  Yorkshire.  He  bred  them  for  several 
years.  Although  managing  his  stock  by  proxy,  they  were  skillfully 
and  successfully  bred,  but  selling  the  estate  and  removing  altogether 
to  the  city,  his  herd  was  dispersed  into  different  hands,  who  still  keep 
their  pedigrees  in  the  Herd  Books. 

In  the  spring  of  1839,  Rev.  R.  T.  Dillard  and  Mr.  Nelson  Dudley, 
of  Kentucky,  went  to  England  and  selected  for  the  Fayette,  Kentucky, 
Importing  Company,  a  superior  lot  of  Short-horns.  After  their  ar- 
rival home  they  were  placed  on  the  farm  of  David  Sutton,  near 
Lexington,  and  in  July,  1840,  were  sold  at  auction,  as  follows : 

BULLS. 

Carcase,  312  (3285),  calved  in  1837,  sold  to  B.  Gratz, $725 

^Eolus,  200  (2938),  calved  in  1836,  sold  to  R.  Fisher, 610 

Eclipse  (9069),  calved  in  1837,  sold  to  R.  Fisher, 1,050 

Crofton  (3523),  calved  in  1839,  sold  to  J.  Downing, 155 

Prince  Albert,  2065,  (calf  of  Victoria,)  2  mos.  old,  sold  to  J.  Flournoy,     350 

Washington  (not  recorded),  calf, 85 

Nelson,  741,  sold  to  P.  Todhunter, 610 

Orlando,  3225,  (calf  of  Lady  Eliza,)  sold  to  H.  Clay,  Jr.,  Bourbon  Co.,     305 

Trojan,  11080,  (calf  of  Lily,)  sold  to  Wheeland  &  Co., 150 

Bruce,  289,  (calf  of  Avarilda,)  sold  to  M.  WiUiams 315 

Milton,  713,  (calf  of  Miss  Maynard,)  sold  to  James  Gaines, 285 

Average,  $422  each.  $4,640 


IQO         .       HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


Cows. 

Victoria  (dam  of  Prince  Albert),  sold  to  R.  Fisher $i,75O 

Miss  Hopper,  sold  to  Thomas  Calmes, 270 

Elizabeth,  sold  to  A.  McClure, 505 

Maria  (calf  of  Elizabeth),  sold  to  J.  B.  Ford, 310 

Miss  Luck,  sold  to  H.  Clay,  Jr.,  Bourbon  county, 800 

Fashion,  sold  to  G.  W.  Williams, 440 

Zela  (calf  of  Fashion),  sold  to  G.  W.  Williams 445 

Splendor,  sold  to  B.  Gratz, 650 

Tulip,  sold  to  A.  McClure, * 700 

Britannia,  and  heifer  calf  Dido,  sold  to  H.  T.  Duncan, 375 

Isabella,  sold  to  R.  Fisher 355 

Lady  Eliza,  sold  to  H.  Clay,  Jr.,  Bourbon  county, 660 

Lily,  sold  to  T.  Calmes, 390 

Nancy,  sold  to  C.  J.  Rogers, 730 

Avarilda,  sold  to  John  Allen, 920 

Beauty,  sold  to  H.  Clay,  Fayette  county 700 

Flora  (calf  of  Beauty),  sold  to  H.  Clay,  Fayette  county, 410 

Miss  Maynard,  sold  to  A.  McClure, 1,005 

Jessica,  sold  to  Joel  Higgins, 330 

Rosabella,  sold  to  William  A.  Warner 465 


Average,  $610  each.  $12,210 

Of  these  animals  Mercer  county  took  5  ;  Scott  county  5  ;  Fayette 
county  8;  Jessamine  county  4;  Clark  county  2;  Bourbon  county  5. 
Where  the  remaining  2  went  the  account  does  not  state. 

Under  the  depression  of  the  money  market  of  the  country  at  the 
time,  although  at  lower  prices  than  paid  at  some  previous  sales  of  the 
kind,  the  result  may  be  considered  a  good  one. 

In  the  Franklin  (Ky.)  Farmer  of  June,  1839,  it  is  stated  that  Lewis 
Shirley,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  imported  from  England,  and  brought  there 
the  bulls  General  Chasse,  calved  in  1834;  Liverpool,  calved  in  1838; 
and  another,  called  Young  Matchem,  all  having  good  pedigrees.  Only 
a  few  pedigrees  in  A.  H.  B.  trace  their  lineage  to  these  bulls. 
It  is  also  stated  in  the  same  paper,  that  Mr.  Shirley  in  the  autumn  of 
1839,  sold  the  bull  Velocipede  (imported  in  1836)  to  Kendall  &  Co., 
Elkton,  Ky.,  for  $1,500;  and  the  bull  Liverpool  to  a  company  in 
Nelson  county,  Ky.,  for  $1,000. 

In  February,  1840,  Messrs.  Wait  &  Bagg  brought  to  New  York 
from  England,  seven  Short-horns,  bulls  and  cows.  One  of  the  cows, 
Empress,  by  Cyrus  (3538),  was  sold  to  Mr.  George  Vail,  Troy,  N.  Y., 
and  in  the  succeeding  year  they  took  others  of  the  importation  to 


DECLENSION    OF    SHORT-HORN    PRICES.         IQI 

Kentucky.     Pedigrees  of  their  descendants  are  frequently  recorded 
in  the  pages  of  the  American  Herd  Book. 

With  the  year  1840,  under  the  continued  depression  of  the  finan- 
cial interests  of  the  country  at  large,  the  spirit  so  active  during  several 
previous  years  in  cultivating  the  Short-horns  gradually  waned,  and 
further  importations  ceased.  For  several  succeeding  years  the  prices 
of  meats  were  unprecedentedly  low.  Mess  pork  fell  to  $10,  and 
even  less,  per  barrel,  in  our  principal  markets,  and  the  dressed  car- 
casses of  swine  were  dull  of  sale  at  $2.50  to  $3.00  per  hundred 
pounds,  while  beef  of  good  quality  was  worth  even  less,  and  a  drug 
throughout.  As  a  consequence,  there  was  little  or  no  encouragement 
for  breeding  Short-horns.  Under  this  depressed  condition  of  affairs 
hundreds  of  well-bred  bull  calves  were  castrated  for  steers,  and  many 
cow  calves  spayed  and  reared  for  the  shambles.  Prices  for  even  the 
best  blooded  animals  were  merely  nominal ;  public  sales  were  scarcely 
made  at  all  as  in  past  years,  and  private  sales  infrequent.  Nor  was 
the  depression  for  a  few  years  only,  but  continuous  down  to  nearly  or 
quite  the  year  1850.  One  hundred  to  two  hundred  dollars  per  head 
would  buy  the  choice  of  almost  any  herd,  bull  or  cow,  in  the  country. 
As  a  specimen  of  the  times,  the  writer  received  a  commission  from 
the  firm  of  A.  B.  Allen  &  Co.,  Agricultural  Merchants  in  New  York 
city,  in. October,  1850,  to  select  fifteen  or  twenty  good  breeding  Short- 
horns, bulls  and  heifers,  to  fill  an  order  for  the  Island  of  Cuba,  where 
an  experiment  was  to  be  tried  with  them  on  the  high  ranges  of  coun- 
try near  its  eastern  coast.  We  went  into  the  Scioto  valley  of  Ohio, 
and  from  the  herds  of  some  of  its  best  breeders  purchased  several 
beautiful  (in  calf)  heifers,  of  two  to  three  years  old  past,  red,  red  and 
white,  and  roan  in  color — as  all  white  was  objected  to — for  $50  to  $100 
each,  and  several  bulls  at  like  prices.  Some  of  them  were  descend- 
ants of  the  Kentucky  importation  of  1817,  with  several  crosses  of 
the  Ohio  Company  bulls  and  their  descendants  of  the  1834  impor- 
tation in  their  pedigrees,  and  others,  pure  descendants  from  the  latter. 
Every  animal  was  of  our  own  selection.  We  paid  the  full  price 
asked  for  them,  and  could  have  quadrupled  the  number,  or  even 
more,  at  the  same  prices.  In  Kentucky,  New  York  and  New  Eng- 
land, Short-horn  values  were  no  better,  and  many  breeders  who  had 
begun  rearing  them  but  a  few  years  before  became  disgusted  with 
their  stock,  turned  their  choice  bred  cows  into  the  dairies,  put  them 
to  common  bulls,  and  sold  off  their  calves  remorselessly  to  the  butcher. 
During  this  depressing  period  numerous  good  pedigrees  were  lost,  as 
not  being  worth  preserving,  and  many  valuable  families  of  this  lordly 


IQ2  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

race  became  almost,  if  not  wholly,  extinct.  A  newly  imported  ani- 
mal, although  Short-horns  were  then  suffering  under  depressed  prices 
in  England,  would  hardly  pay  the  expenses  of  transportation  across 
the  ocean  from  any  sale  which  could  be  made  of  it  here. 

Still,  the  low  prices  of  meats  in  the  markets  were  not  all  the  diffi- 
culty. The  taste  of  our  stock  breeders  had  at  the  time  been  but 
scantily  cultivated.  Shrewd,  discriminating  men  knew  the  value  of 
Short-horns,  and  the  immense  improvement  they  were  capable  of 
giving  to  the  common  herds  of  the  country ;  but  when  the  great  mass 
of  farmers  were  either  too  dull  or  too  ignorant  to  buy,  there  was  little 
or  no  encouragement  to  breed  them.  Thus  the  choice  herds  so  highly 
prized  but  a  few  years  before  lay  dormant.  It  was  but  a  repetition 
of  the  result  of  many  valuable  enterprises  in  the  agricultural  world — 
a  spasm,  an  excitement  incident  to  the  trial  of  a  new  thing,  followed 
by  an  indifference,  a  mistaken  and  culpable  neglect  on  the  part  of 
the  many ;  but  still  kept  alive  by  the  hopeful  foresight  of  the  few 
who  held  persistently  on  to  their  herds,  anticipating  a  brighter  day 
when  their  anxious  efforts  would  be  amply  rewarded,  as  the  sequel 
will  show. 


THEIR    REVIVAL    IN    AMERICA.  193 


CHAPTER     X. 

REVIVAL  OF  THE  SHORT-HORNS  IN  AMERICA. 

THE  year  1852  dawned  upon  a  more  cheerful  prospect  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  than  that  of  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  preceding  it. 
Meats  had  gradually  increased  in  price,  as  a  foreign  demand  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  had  opened  for  our  surplus  provisions ;  our  farmers 
had  measurably  recovered  from  their  depressed  condition,  and  a 
spirit  of  improvement  in  their  neat  stock  now  gradually  revived 
among  the  cattle  growers  of  the  country,  particularly  in  the  States  of 
New  York,  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  Those  Short-horn  breeders  who 
had  tenaciously  held  on  to  and  cherished  the  blood  of  their  favorite 
herds — and  taken  in  the  aggregate,  there  were  quite  a  number  of 
them — gathered  their  choice  things  together  with  renewed  care,  and 
with  cheerful  hope  of  better  times  in  the  future,  set  themselves  about 
their  improvement  both  by  accelerated  increase  and  painstaking  in 
their  breeding.  Had  not  the  Short-horn  race,  by  their  inherent  qual- 
ities of  excellence,  borne  up  against  the  neglect  under  which  many 
of  them  for  years  past  had  suffered,  some  of  them  in  their  depressed 
appearance  and  careless  breeding  would  scarcely  be  recognized  as 
high-bred  cattle  at  all,  although  the  aristocratic  blood  of  many  genera- 
tions still  coursed  through  their  veins  and  remained  intact  as  ever. 
Yet  by  the  still  hopeful  interest,  and  care  of  their  breeders  under 
the  exercise  of  a  discriminating  judgment,  the  neglected  herds  rap- 
idly resumed  their  wonted  comeliness  of  form  and  robustness  of 
condition,  and  showed  their  excellence  as  of  old. 

About  the  year  1852  a  demand  for  them  gradually  sprung  up,  and 
on  a  deliberate  survey  of  the  situation  a  new  impulse  was  directed  to 
further  importations  from  abroad.  Anticipating  a  movement  of  this 
kind,  in  the  year  1849  Mr.  Ambrose  Stevens,  of  Batavia,  N.  Y.,  went  to 
England  and  purchased  the  valuable  bull  3d  Duke  of  Cambridge,  1034 
(5941),  by  Duke  of  Northumberland  (1940),  then  eight  years  old,  of 
his  breeder,  Mr.  Thomas  Bates,  of  Kirkleavington.  This  bull  was 
of  the  Duchess,  Princess,  and  Waterloo  tribes  combined.  After  his 
13 


194  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

arrival  in  America  he  became  the  joint  property  of  Col.  J.  M.  Sher- 
wood, of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  Mr.  Stevens,  and  was  kept  several  years, 
until  he  died  on  Col.  Sherwood's  farm.  He  did  much  valuable  ser- 
vice as  a  sire. 

At  the  same  time  with  3d  Duke  of  Cambridge  came  the  bull 
calf  Duke  of  Exeter,  449  (10152),  bred  by  Mr.  John  Stephenson,  for 
Mr.  J.  F.  Sheaffe,  New  Hamburgh,  Dutchess  county,  N.  Y.,  previ- 
ously mentioned. 

With  the  above  named  bulls  were  brought  out  from  the  herd  of 
Mr.  Stephenson  the  yearling  heifers  Princess  2d,  by  General  Sale 
(8099) ;  Princess  3d,  by  Napier  (6238) ;  and  Red  Rose  2d,  by  Napier 
(6238).  The  latter  was  sold  to  Col.  Sherwood,  and  soon  afterwards 
Red  Rose  2d  gave  birth  to  Red  Rose  4th,  by  Earl  of  Chatham 
(10176).  Red  Rose  2d  was  a  remarkable  milker  (a  small  cow,  from 
her  early  breeding,  and  thin  in  flesh  from  heavy  milking),  having 
made  49  pounds  of  butter  in  25  successive  days  in  May  and  June, 
1851,  when  4  years  old,  with  her  second  calf.  To  the  above  may 
be  added  Red  Rose  3d,  by  General  Sale.  This  heifer  died  without 
produce. 

With  these  also  came  out  the  bull  Lord  Vane  Tempest,  669^ 
(10469),  sold  to  Col.  Sherwood. 

In  the  year  1850  were  imported  the  bull  Earl  of  Seaham,  1499 
(10181),  the  joint  property  of  Mr.  Stevens  and  Col.  Sherwood,  after- 
wards purchased  by  Rev.  John  A.  Gano,  of  Bourbon  county,  Ky.,  in 
whose  possession  he  died,  leaving  some  valuable  descendants. 

With  Earl  of  Seaham  came  also  the  bull  Wolviston,  1109,  after- 
wards sold  by  Mr.  Stevens  to  Mr.  Ashton,  of  Canada  West. 

With  the  above  bulls  were  imported  the  cow  Princess  4th,  by 
Napier  (6238);  Waterloo  5th  (bred  by  Thomas  Bates),  by  Duke 
of  Northumberland  (1940);  Wild  Eyes  5th  (bred  by  Mr.  Bates),  by 
Short  Tail  (2621).  The  two  last  named  cows  died  after  their  arrival 
in  America,  without  issue. 

In  1851  Mr.  Stevens  imported  the  bull  calf  Earl  Vane,  464,  by  Earl 
of  Chatham  (10176),  and  the  cow  Princess  ist  (5  years  old),  by  Napier 
(6238);  and  in  1852  came  out  the  cow  Lady  Sale  2d,  by  Earl  of 
Chatham  (10176).  Sold  to  Col.  Sherwood. 

In  the  same  year  Col.  Sherwood  imported  the  cow  Tuberose  2d, 
by  Earl  of  Antrim  (10174). 

All  the  above  animals  of  the  Stevens-Sherwood  importation  (ex- 
cepting the  three  bred  by  Mr.  Bates)  were  bred  by  Mr.  Stephenson, 
Wolviston,  Eng.,  and  of  his  Princess  tribe. 


SUCCESSIVE    IMPORTATIONS.  195 

In  some  year,  shortly  previous  to  1848,  a  Mr.  Oliver,  of  Westchester 
county,  N.  Y.,  imported  the  bull  Marius,  684,  bred  by  Earl  Spencer, 
England.  He  was  exhibited  at  the  New  York  State  Agricultural 
Show,  in  Buffalo,  1848,  by  Colonel  L.  G.  Morris,  and  there  sold  to 
Mr.  David  Harrold,  of  South  Charleston,  Clark  county,  Ohio,  into 
which  State  he  went  and  did  good  service  for  some  years.  Our 
impression  is  that  one  or  two  heifers  were  brought  out  with  the  bull, 
but  of  the  fact  we  have  no  particular  account. 

About  the  year  1851  or  '52,  Mr.  Lorillard  Spencer,  of  New  York,  im- 
ported the  young  bull  Augustus,  225  (1125),  bred  by  G.  D.  Trotter, 
Middlesex,  Eng. ;  Duke  of  Atholl,  44  (10150),  bred  by  Thos.  Bates; 
and  Woldsman,  1108  (11056),  bred  by  Mr.  Topham,  Spilsby,  Eng., 
and  the  heifers  Faraway,  by  3d  Duke  of  Oxford  (9047) ;  Jean,  by 
Chevalier  (10050);  Sonsie  8th,  by  2d  Cleveland  Lad  (3408),  and 
possibly  one  or  two  others.  .  These  he  bred  for  a  few  years  with  some 
others  acquired  at  home,  when  he  finally  disposed  of  his  herd,  and 
gave  up  further  Short-horn  breeding. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1850,  the  sale  of  the  late  Mr.  Bates'  herd 
was  held  in  England,  by  his  executors,  as  related  in  a  previous  chapter, 
at  which  Messrs.  Morris  and  Becar,  of  New  York,  were  present,  and 
bought  three  Oxford  cows  and  heifers,  viz. :  Oxford  5th,  by  Duke  of 
Northumberland  (1940);  Oxford  6th,  by  2d  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land (3646);  Oxford  1 3th,  by  3d  Duke  of  York  (10166).  Of  these, 
Oxford  5th  and  loth,  were  taken  by  Col.  Morris,  and  Oxford  i3th  by 
Mr.  Becar.  Col.  Morris  also  bought  of  another  party  the  bull  Balco, 
227  (9918),  bred  by  Mr.  Bates. 

These  gentlemen  also  purchased  of  another  party  in  England,  the 
bull  Romeo  (13619)  on  joint  account. 

Col.  Morris  further  purchased  of  various  others  the  bulls  Marquis 
of  Carrabas  (11789);  The  Lord  of  Eryholme  (12205),  and  Billy  Pitt 
(9967) ;  also  the  cows  Beauty  of  Brawith,  by  Emperor  (6973) ;  Bloom, 
by  Sir  Leonard  (10827);  and  Romelia,  by  Flageolet  (9130). 

Mr.  Becar  also  bought  of  other  parties  the  cows  Actress,  by  Hark- 
away  (9184);  Apricot,  by  3d  Duke  of  York  (10166);  Garland,  by 
Pestalozzi  (10603);  Lady  Barrington  i2th,  by  4th  Duke  of  York 
(10167);  and  Lady  Booth,  by  Chilton  (10054).  These  animals  were 
all  shipped  to  America,  where  they  were  established  on  the  farms  of 
their  respective  owners,  and  most,  if  not  all  the  females  bred  success- 
fully, producing  a  numerous  progeny. 

At  the  great  Tortworth  Court  sale  of  the  herd  of  the  late  Earl 
Ducie,  in  the  year  1853,  noticed  in  a  preceding  chapter,  Messrs. 


196  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Morris  and  Becar  bought  the  bull  Duke  of  Gloster,  2763  (11382), 
and  the  cow  Duchess  66th,  by  4th  Duke  of  York  (10167),  which 
they  brought  home  and  bred  with  their  previously  established  herd, 
until  the  death  of  Mr.  Becar,  which  most  unfortunately  occurred  in 
the  year  1854,  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  vigor  and  usefulness.  Mr. 
Becar  was  a  native  of  France,  and  emigrating  when  a  young  man  to 
the  city  of  New  York,  he  established  himself  as  a  merchant,  which 
occupation  he  for  many  years  successfully  pursued.  He  married  an 
American  wife,  whose  family  held  large  possessions  of  land  on  Long 
Island,  and  were  among  its  most  intelligent  farmers.  In  possession 
of  one  of  those  attractive  farms  Mr.  Becar  cultivated  alike  its  acres 
and  his  Short-horns  with  assiduity  and  success,  during  the  few  years 
which  he  devoted  to  the  pursuit.  Soon  after  his  death,  his  late 
partner,  Col.  Morris,  purchased  his  interest  in  the  herd,  and  a  few 
months  afterwards  (selling  out  meantime  many  valuable  young  bulls 
to  various  breeders  in  different  States)  he  transferred  them  in  one 
entire  sale  to  Mr.  Samuel  Thome,  at  Thorndale,  Dutchess  county,  N.Y. 

Anticipating  a  year  or  two  of  time,  we  follow  the  herd  of  Messrs. 
Morris  and  Becar  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Thorne,  and  merging  them 
in  his  own  recently  well-selected  herd,  we  must  pass  to  an  account  of 
that  gentleman's  Short-horn  importations  and  breeding. 

In  the  year  1850  Mr.  Jonathan  Thorne,  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
having  on  his  extensive  farm,  at  Thorndale,  a  couple  of  Short-horn 
cows  recently  bought  of  Mr.  Vail,  at  Troy,  sent  out  to  his  son,  Edwin 
Thorne,  then  in  England,  to  purchase  and  send  him  a  Short-horn 
bull.  The  order  was  filled  by  the  importation  of  St.  Lawrence,  1005 
(12037),  bred  by  Capt.  Pelham,  of  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The  young 
bull,  calved  only  in  the  previous  November,  arrived  in  America  early 
in  the  spring  of  1851,  and  was  taken  to  Mr.  Thome's  farm,  where  he 
remained  until  of  breeding  age.  He  was  afterwards  sold  to  the  late 
Dr.  Elisha  Warfield,  near  Lexington,  Ky.,  where  he  did  good  service 
in  his  herd  for  some  years. 

In  the  summer  of  1852,  Mr.  Thome  received,  on  an  order  which 
he  sent  to  Mr.  Robert  Bell,  of  England,  two  heifers,  Forget-me-not 
2d,  by  4th  Duke  of  York  (10167),  and  Countess,  by  3d  Duke  of 
Oxford  (9047) ;  also  from  J.  S.  Tanqueray  the  young  cow  Ellen 
Gwynne,  by  Sir  Harry  (10819).  This  last  named  cow  (pregnant 
before  shipped),  after  her  arrival  in  America,  produced  the  bull  calf 
Young  Balco,  1124,  got  by  Balco  (9918),  and  soon  afterwards  died 
from  a  quantity  of  nails  found  in  her  stomach,  after  death. 


MR.  THORNE'S  IMPORTATIONS.  197 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  Mr.  Samuel  Thorne  (son  of  Jonathan) — 
having  assumed  charge  of  the  farm  and  Short-horn  stock — in  com- 
pany with  the  late  Mr.  F.  M.  Rotch,  residing  in  Morris,  Otsego 
county,  N.  Y.,  sailed  for  England  in  quest  of  some  Short-horns,  "as 
good  as  could  be  found,  without  regard  to  the  prices  to  be  paid  for 
them."  In  the  ensuing  October  Mr.  Thorne  brought  out  the  bul' 
Grand  Duke,  545  (10284),  bought  of  Mr.  Bolden,  and  two  cows 
Duchess  59th  and  68th,  bought  at  Lord  Ducie's  sale,  previously  no- 
ticed; also  the  cows  Peri,  by  Grand  Duke  (10284),  bought  of  Mr. 
Bolden;  Frederika,  by  Upstart  (9760),  and  Lalla  Rookh,  by  The 
Squire  (12217),  bred  by  Mr.  Townley;  Aurora,  by  3d  Duke  of  York 
(10166);  Mystery,  by  Usurer  (9763);  and  Darling,  by  Grand  Duke 
(10284).  The  vessel  on  which  the  cattle  were  shipped  for  America 
had  a  tempestuous  passage.  Duchess  68th  was  killed  outright  by  the 
falling  of  a  mast,  and  Peri  had  one  hip  knocked  down,  two  ribs 
broken,  and  lost  one  horn.  This  accident,  however,  did  not  prevent 
her  from  breeding  successfully  after  her  arrival  in  America.  The 
bull  Harry  Lorequer,  bred  by  Mr.  Fawkes,  also  purchased  by  Mr. 
Thorne,  and  embarked  on  the  same  ship,  was  lost  by  stress  of 
weather. 

The  cow  Duchess  64th,  which  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Thorne  at 
the  same  (Lord  Ducie's)  sale,  with  the  before  named  Duchesses,  was 
left  in  England  until  the  succeeding  year,  having  meantime  dropped 
her  calf,  2d  Grand  Duke,  2181  (12961),  which,  by  previous  arrange- 
ment, was  the  property  of  Mr.  Bolden.  She  soon  after  came  to 
America.  Her  calf,  2d  Grand  Duke,  became  the  property  of  Mr. 
Thorne,  afterwards,  in  the  year  1855,  soon  after  the  accident,  which 
rendered  his  previous  Grand  Duke  (10284)  useless,  at  the  price  of 
1000  guineas,  the  same  which  Mr.  Thorne  paid  for  the  latter  at  the 
time  of  the  Ducie  sale. 

All  efforts  to  restore  the  usefulness  of  Grand  Duke  having  failed, 
he  was  slaughtered  in  the  year  1857,  and  made  upwards  of  1400 
pounds,  net  weight,  although  in  only  moderate  condition. 

The  ten  animals  (exclusive  of  2d  Grand  Duke)  of  Mr.  Thome's 
first  purchase  in  1853,  comprising  Grand  Duke  and  the  three  Duch- 
esses, cost  3,600  guineas — upwards  of  $18,000 — probably  the  most 
costly  purchase  ever  made  by  an  American  down  to  that  time,  though 
several  purchases  of  cows  have  since  been  made  at  higher  prices. 

Mr.  Thome's  next  importation  was  made  in  the  year  1854,  con- 
sisting of  nine  cows  and  heifers,  viz. :  Lady  Millicent,  by  Laud- 
able (9282);  Sylphide,  by  Pestalozzi  (10603);  Cypress,  by  Lord  of 


198  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Brawith  (10465) ;  Agnes,  by  Lord  of  Brawith  (10465) ;  Cherry,  by  Lord 
of  Brawith  (10465);  Constantia,  by  Lord  of  Brawith  (10465);  Diana 
Gwynne,  by  Duke  of  Lancaster  (10929);  Lady  of  Atholl,  by  Duke 
of  Atholl  (10150) ;  and  Dinah  Gwynne,  by  Balco,  227  (9918).  These 
all  came  out  in  good  condition  and  proved  successful  breeders,  with 
the  exception  of  Sylphide,  which  produced  nothing  after  leaving 
England. 

In  November,  1855,  as  before  mentioned,  Mr.  Thome  brought  out 
the  young  bull  2d  Grand  Duke,  also  the  bull  Neptune,  1917  (11847), 
bred  by  Mr.  John  Booth.  The  bull  Duke  of  Dorset,  bred  by  Lord 
Feversham,  was  also  bought  by  Mr.  Thorne,  but  not  shipped  until  the 
summer  of  1856.  He  unfortunately  died  on  the  voyage  to  America. 

In  the  summer  of  1856  Mr.  Thorne  purchased  at  the  sale  of  Sir 
Charles  Knightly,  in  England,  the  cows  Blouzelind,  by  Earl  of 
Dublin  (10178);  Elgitha,  by  Balco  (9918);  and  Mrs.  Flathers,  by 
Earl  of  Dublin  (10178);  also  heifers  Buttercup  2d,  by  Horatio 
(10335),  and  Miss  Buttercup,  by  Master  Butterfly  (13311),  both  bred 
by  and  purchased  of  Col.  Townley,  at  the  price  of  1,000  guineas — 
over  $5,000  for  the  five ;  also  the  cows  Dewdrop,  by  Financier 
(9122);  Darlington  6th,  by  4th  Duke  of  Oxford  (11387);  and  Maria 
Louisa,  by  Hopewell  (10332),  bred  by  and  purchased  of  other  parties. 
These  animals  all  arrived  safely  at  Mr.  Thome's  farm,  bred  success- 
fully, and  left  many  descendants. 

In  1857,  Mr.  Edwin  Thorne,  then  in  England,  purchased  and  sent 
out  to  his  brother  Samuel,  the  bull  Grand  Turk,  2935  (12969),  bred 
by  Mr.  Bolden,  Lancashire. 

In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Thorne  purchased,  as  previ- 
ously mentioned,  of  Col.  Morris,  Mt.  Fordham,  N.  Y.,  the  combined 
herds  of  Messrs.  Morris  and  Becar — who  had  imported  largely  from 
England — numbering  53  animals,  including  the  Duchesses  66th, 
7ist,  and  Duchess  ( -)  (afterwards  recorded  in  E.  H.  B.  as  Duch- 
ess of  Fordham);  the  cows  Oxfords  5th,  6th,  i3th,  171)1  and  2oth; 
Maid  of  Oxford,  Bride  of  Oxford,  Romeo's  Oxford,  Gloster's  Oxford, 
and  Beauty  of  Oxford,  together  with  bulls  imported  Duke  of  Gloster, 
2763  (11382);  Fordham  Duke  of  Oxford,  2863,  and  Baron  of  Ox- 
ford, 2525. 

In  the  year  1854,  2d  Grand  Duke,  2181  (12961),  having  become 
useless,  was  slaughtered  at  Mr.  Thome's  farm,  being  then  eleven 
years  old. 

Having  some  years  previous  sold  some  of  his  Duchess  and  Oxfords, 
bulls  and  females,  to  Mr.  James  O.  Sheldon,  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  which 
the  latter  had  successfully  bred,  in  the  year  1867  Mr.  Thorne  made 


R.  A.  ALEXANDER'S  IMPORTATIONS.    199 

a  final  sale  of  his  entire  herd,  about  forty  in  number,  to  Mr.  James 
O.  Sheldon,  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  at  the  gross  sum  of  $42,300. 

About  the  years  1850  to  1853,  inclusive,  (for  we  have  been  unable 
to  obtain  the  exact  dates  of  his  importations,)  the  late  Mr.  R.  A. 
Alexander,  of  Woodford  county,  Ky.,  who  had  for  some  years,  then 
past,  been  a  breeder  of  Short-horns,  obtained  from  different  herds  in 
that  State,  began  an  extensive  importation  of  Short-horns  from  Eng- 
land onto  his  farm,  and  extending  through  several  successive  years. 
His  imported  animals  were  selected  from  several  different  prominent 
breeders.  Of  these  importations,  on  referring  to  his  catalogue  of 
the  year  1856,  we  find  there  were  eleven  bulls,  and  a  much  larger 
number  of  cows.  He  was  aided  in  his  selections  by  Mr.  Strafford, 
editor  of  the  English  Herd  Book,  and  with  the  ample  means  at  his 
command,  a  choice  assortment  from  some  noted  tribes  was  obtained. 
Among  them  we  find,  from  the  somewhat  incomplete  catalogues  which 
we  have  been  able  to  obtain,  the  following : 

BULLS. — Lord  John  (11728);  2d  Duke  of  Atholl  (11376);  Grand 
Master  (12968);  Baron  Martin  (12444);  Fantachini  (12862);  Mickey 
Free,  8626  (A.  H.  B.);  Doctor  Buckingham  (14405);  Duke  of  Air- 
drie,  9798  (12730);  El  Hakim,  2814  (A.  H.  B.).  To  these  he  added 
some  other  bulls  by  purchases  from  late  imported  herds  into 
Kentucky. 

Cows. — Sweet  Mary,  by  Rufus  (6428) ;  Peeress,  by  Lord  Marmion 
(8244);  Nightingale,  by  Prince  Alfred  (8422);  Victoria,  by  Diamond 
(5918);  Filbert,  by  2d  Cleveland  Lad  (3408);  Jubilee,  by  Lycurgus 
(7180);  Lady  Laura,  by  Laudable  (9282);  Maid  Marion,  by  Robin 
Hood  (9555);  Vellum,  by  Abraham  Parker  (9856);  Forget-me-not, 
by  2d  Cleveland  Lad  (3408);  Princess  4th,  by  Revolution  (10713); 
Tizzy,  by  Robin  Hood  (9555) ;  Beatrice,  by  Attraction  (9912) ;  Alice 
Wiley,  by  Rumor  (7456) ;  Lady  Barrington  i3th,  by  4th  Duke  of 
York  (10167);  Duchess  of  Atholl,  by  2d  Duke  of  Oxford  (9046); 
Graceful,  by  Earl  of  Dublin  (10178);  Pearlette,  by  Benedict  (7828); 
Rose,  by  Puritan  (9523);  Buttercup,  by  Puritan  (9523);  Victoria 
2oth,  by  Broken  Horn  (12500);  Joyful,  by  Lycurgus  (7180);  Emma, 
by  Fair  Eclipse  (11456);  Bonny  Lass,  by  Earl  of  Dublin  (10178); 
Jubilee  2d,  by  Marquis  of  Rockingham  (10506);  Filligree,  by  Abra- 
ham Parker  (9856);  Lady  Gulnare,  by  Senator  (8548);  Prune,  by 
Lord  Lieutenant  (11734);  Ferella,  by  Grand  Duke  (10284);  Grisi, 
by  Grand  Duke  (10284);  Kathleen  Bawn,  by  Holcombe  (10384); 
Bessy  Howard,  by  Fitzwalter  (10232);  Miss  Wiley  2d,  by  Prince 
Royal  (8428);  Jessy  3d,  by  Duke  of  Albany  (10149);  Miss  Townley, 


200  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

by  Brunei  (9999);  Coquette,  by  Monk  (11824);  Doria  Picola,  by 
Duke  of  Albany  (10149);  Mary  Cattley,  by  Puritan  (9523);  Alberta, 
by  Holcomb  (10324);  Christine  Cattley,  by  De  Grey  (11346);  Lydia 
Languish,  by  Duke  of  Gloster  (11382) ;  Sally-in-our-Alley,  by  Bride- 
groom (11203);  Rosabelle,  by  Bridegroom  (11203) ;  Sunrise,  by  Abra- 
ham Parker  (9856);  Canny,  by  Will  Watch  (12307) ;  Lady  Valentine, 
by  Harbinger  (10207);  Frances  Fairfax,  by  Crusade  (7938);  Zara, 
by  Bridegroom  (11203);  Constance,  by  Bridegroom  (11203);  Scotia, 
by  Lancaster  Comet  (11663);  Minna,  by  Bridegroom  (11203);  Pru- 
nella, by  Duke  of  Bolton  (12738). 

To  these  numerous  selections  were  added  several  more  pur- 
chases from  other  herds  imported  into  Kentucky,  which,  with  his 
native  bred  Short-horns  he  had  for  some  years  previous  been  cultiva- 
ting, comprised  the  largest  Short-horn  herd  then  in  the  United  States. 
Neither  money  nor  pains  were  spared  in  the  selection  of  his  stock, 
or  in  their  subsequent  propagation.  Many  sales  were  made  from  it, 
both  in  Kentucky  and  other  States,  and  its  reputation  was  among  the 
best  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Alexander  died,  unmarried,  in  the  year  1867,  in  the  prime  of 
his  life  and  usefulness.  His  large  Woodburn  estate  of  some  3,000 
acres,  together  with  his  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  and  valuable  stud  of 
blood  and  trotting  horses,  fell  into  the  possession  of  his  brother,  Mr. 
A.  J.  Alexander,  who  still  maintains,  if  not  in  numbers,  yet  in  their 
integrity  of  blood  and  quality,  the  descendants  of  the  valuable  stock 
which  the  earlier  proprietor  had  so  carefully  collected. 

In  the  year  1852  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  the  Scioto  valley,  in 
Ohio,  formed  an  association,  sent  out  one  or  more  agents  and  made 
an  importation  of  near  20  Short-horns,  bulls  and  cows.  Most  of 
them,  1 6  in  number,  were  sold  at  the  farm  of  the  late  Dr.  Arthur 
Watts,  near  Chillicothe,  at  public  auction,  under  the  attendance  of  a 
numerous  company,  as  follows  : 

BULLS. 

Nobleman,  1932,  sold  to  John  J.  Vanmeter,  Pike  county,  Ohio,. . . .  $2,510 
Master  Bellville  (11795),  sold  to  Abram  Maypool,  George  Renick, 
Harness  Renick,  and  Alexander  Renick,  Ross  and  Pickaway 

counties,  Ohio, 2,005 

Lord  Nelson,  664,  sold  to  John  L.  Myers,  Fayette  county,  Ohio,. . .  1,825 

Alderman,  204,  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle,  Clark  county,  Ohio 1,150 

Gam-boy  (11503),  sold  to  M.  L.  Sullivan t,  Columbus,  Ohio, 1,400 

Count  Fashion,  381,  sold  to  N.  Perrill,  Clinton  county,  Ohio, 2,075 

Young  Whittington,  1165,  sold  to  Arthur  Watts,  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  450 

Rising  Sun,  5130,  sold  to  G.  M.  Herodh,  Scioto  county,  Ohio, 1,300 

Isaac,  589,  sold  to  G.  M.  Gregg,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio, 600 


NORTHERN  KENTUCKY  IMPORTATIONS.    2OI 

Cows. 
Moss  Rose,  by  Stapleton  (2698),  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle,  Clark  Co.,  O.  $1,200 

Strawberry,*  by ,  sold  to  Geo.  W.  Renick,  Ross  county,  Ohio,    1,000 

Raspberry,*  by ,  sold  to  Geo.  W.  Gregg,  Pickaway  county,  O.    1,110 

Sunrise,*  by ,  sold  to  John  J.  Vanmeter,  Pike  county,  Ohio,.  . .     1,230 

Mary,  by  Lord  of  the  Manor  (10466),  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle,  Clark 

county,  Ohio, 1,650 

Enchantress,  by  Leopold,  son  of  D'Israeli  (7967),  sold  to  Harness 

and  Alexander  Renick,  Pickaway  county,  Ohio, 900 

Blue  Bonnet,  by  Earl  of  Antrim  (10174),  sold  to  Felix  W.  Renick, 

Pickaway  county,  Ohio, 1,225 

Average,  $1,352  each.  $21,630 

The  above  prices  may  be  considered  extraordinarily  high  for  the 
time;  but  as  the  competition  was  among  the  stockholders  of  the 
importation  chiefly,  if  not  altogether,  their  dividend  of  profit  much 
reduced,  to  themselves,  the  prices  which  they  paid  for  them. 

In  1853,  The  Northern  Kentucky  Association  commissioned  Messrs. 
Charles  T.  Garrard,  Nelson  Dudley,  and  Solomon  Vanmeter,  who 
went  to  England  and  selected  9  bulls  and  15  cows,  from  among  the 
best  English  herds,  and  brought  them  to  Kentucky  in  July  of  that 
year.  They  were  sold  at  public  auction  soon  after  their  arrival. 
The  list  consisted  of  the  following : 

BULLS. 
Young  Chilton,  1131  (11278),  sold  to  Dr.  Breckinridge  and  B.  and 

W.  Warfield,  Fayette  county,  Ky., $3,005 

Diamond,  416  (11357),  sold  to  Brutus  J.  Clay  &  Co.,  Bourbon  Co.,  6,001 

The  Count  (12191),  sold  to  Strawder  Goff,  Clark  county, 2,575 

Orontes  2d,  1966  (11877),  sold  to  R.  A.  Alexander,  Woodford  Co.,  4,525 

Fusileer,  1584,  sold  to  R.  W.  Scott,  Franklin  county, 1,425 

Senator  2d,  958  (13687),  sold  to  John  and  Albert  Allen,  Fayette  Co.  2,000 
Bellville  3d,  1246,  sold  to  Sutton  and  Coleman,  Fayette  county,. . .  1,500 
Challenger,  324,  sold  to  Isaac  Vanmeter,  T.  L.  Cunningham,  Solo- 
mon Vanmeter,  and  Wm.  R.  Duncan,  Clark  county, 4,850 

Fortunatus,  1564,  sold  to  Messrs.  Vanmeter,  Fayette  county, 1,800 

Yorkshire  Maynard,  2401  (14043),  sold  to  Robt.  S.  Taylor,  Clark  Co.  1,000 

Cows. 
Lady  Stanhope,  by  Earl  Stanhope  (5966),  sold  to  Brutus  J.  Clay, 

Bourbon  county,  Ky., $1,500 

Lady  Fairy,  by  Laudable  (9262),  sold  to  Dr.  Breckenridge  and  B. 

and  W.  Warfield,  Fayette  county, 1,100 

Roan  Duchess,  by  Whittington  (12229),  sold  to  William  H.  Brand 

and  John  Allen,  Fayette  county, 900 

*  These  cows  not  having  been  recorded,  unless  they  have  since  occurred  as  dams  in  other 
pedigrees,  in  A.  H.  B.,  we  are  unable  to  name  their  sires,  their  names  not  being  inserted  in  the 
catalogue  of  their  sale. — L.  F.  A. 


202  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Goodness,  by  Orontes  (4623),  sold  to  Albert  Allen,  Fayette  county,  $2,025 

Gem,  by  Broker  (9993),  sold  to  T.  L.  Cunningham,  Bourbon  Co., 

and  S.  Vanmeter,  Clark  county, 825 

Equity,  by  Lord  George  (10439),  sold  to  R.  A.  Alexander,  Wood- 
ford  county, 1,000 

Necklace,  by  Duke  of  Atholl  (10150),  sold  to  H.  Clay,  Jr.,  Bour- 
bon county, 805 

Bracelet,  Twin  Sister  to  Necklace,  sold  to  M.  M.  Clay,  Bourbon 

county, 750 

Mazurka,  by  Harbinger  (10297),  sold  to  R.  A.  Alexander,  Wood- 
ford  county 750 

Lady  Caroline,  by  Newtonian,  745,  sold  to  B.  J.  Clay,  Bourbon  Co.     1,825 

Duchess  of  Sutherland,  by  Captain  Edwards  (8929),  sold  to  Wm. 

H.  Brand  and  John  Allen,  Fayette  county, 800 

Maid  of  Melrose,  by  Lord  Marquis  (10459),  sold  to  Sam.  Humph- 
reys, Woodford  county, 2,000 

Muffin,  by  Usurer  (9763),  sold  to  D.  H.  Coulter  and  W.  A.  Smith, 

Scott  county 535 

Orphan  Nell,  by  Ruby  (10760),  sold  to  John  Hill  and  John  A.  Gano, 

Bourbon  county, 1,000 

Flattery,  by  4th  Duke  of  York  (10167),  sold  to  Wm.  R.  Duncan, 

Clark  county, 815 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1853  an  association  in  Scott  county, 
Ky.,  made  an  importation  consisting  of  4  bulls  and  7  cows.  They 
were  sold  at  auction,  as  follows : 

BULLS. 

Pathfinder,  805,  sold  to  W.  B.  Webb  and  R.  D.  Ford,  Scott  Co.,  Ky.,      $860 
Baron  Feversham,  by  Diamond,  416,  sold  to Estell,  Madison 

county, i»525 

Captain  Lawson,  310,  sold  to  A.  D.  OfTutt  and  W.  D.  Crockett, 

Scott  county, 400 

Cunningham,  1415  (12671),  sold  to  S.  J.  Salyers,  Fayette  county,. .        865 

Cows. 
Yorkshire  Rose,  by  General  Fairfax  (11519),  sold  to  P.  L.  Cable, 

Scott  county, 425 

Venus,  by  Fair  Eclipse  (11456),  sold  to  J.  Hill,  Bourbon  county,. .        710 
Carnation,  by  Budget,   by  Bumper  (10005),  s°ld   to   Charles  W. 

Innes,  Fayette  county, 610 

Enterprise,  by  Fair  Eclipse  (11450),  sold  to  Jas.  C.  Lemon,  Scott  Co.        710 
Rosamond,  by  Sir  Charles  Napier  (10816),  sold  to  Silas  Corbin, 

Bourbon  county, 575 

Cameo,  by  Arrow  (9906),  sold  to  W.  Boswell,  Bourbon  county, ....        450 
Casket,  by  Arrow  (9906),  sold  to  W.  D.  Offutt,  Scott  county, 405 

In  the  year  1853,  an  association  of  breeders  was  formed  in  Madi- 
son county,  Ohio,  and  an  agent  sent  to  England  who  brought  out  15 
bulls  and  9  cows.  The  selections  were  of  good  quality,  and  they  were 


MADISON    COUNTY,    OHIO,    IMPORTATIONS.      203 

sold  at  London,  Ohio,  at  public  auction,  27th  September  the  same 

year,  a  few  weeks  after  their  arrival.  We  were  present  at  the  sale ; 
the  stock  were  in  fine  condition ;  a  large  audience  were  in  attend- 
ance, and  the  bidding  spirited.  The  following  is  a  report : 

BULLS. 
Thornberry,  1035  (12222),  sold  to  F.  W.  and  H.  Renick,  Pickaway 

county,  Ohio, $875 

Sheffielder,  g6iX,  sold  to  J.  W.  Robinson,  Madison  county, 1,800 

Mario,  683)^,  sold  to  Robert  Reed,  Madison  county,  Ohio,. . .' 1,550 

Marquis,  687  (11787),  sold  to  James  Fullington,  Union  county,. . . .  3,000 

Starlight,  1003  (12146),  sold  to  Charles  Phellis,  Madison  county,. . .  3,000 

Beauclerc  (not  recorded),  sold  to  D.  M.  Creighton,  Madison  Co., . .  750 

Symmetry,  1019,  sold  to  J.  G.,  W.  A.  and  R.  G.  Dun,  Madison  Co.,  1,150 

Farmer  Boy,  2842,  sold  to  Joseph  Reyburn,  Madison  county, 925 

Prince  Albert,  3284,  sold  to  J.  F.  Chenoweth,  Madison  county,. . . .  300 

Colonel,  350,  sold  to  ]t  G.,  W.  A.  and  R.  G.  Dun,  Madison  county,  1,350 

Sportsman  (not  recorded),  sold  to  James  Foster,  Madison  county, . .  700 

Prince  Edward,  864,  sold  to  M.  B.  Wright,  Fayette  county, 475 

Rocket,  92 iX,  sold  to  David  Watson,  Union  county, 425 

Splendor,  997^,  sold  to  F.  A.  Yocum,  Madison  county, 500 

Duke  of  Liverpool  (not  recorded),  sold  to  George  G.  McDonald, 

Madison  county, 555 

Average,  $1,157  each.  $!7,355 

Cows. 

Victoria,*  sold  to  J.  Q.  Winchell,  Madison  county, $600 

Picotee,*  sold  to  Jesse  Watson,  Madison  county, !>275 

Stapleton  Lass,*  sold  to  Jesse  Watson,  Madison  county, i,35o 

Princess,  by  Belted  Will  (6780),  and  calf,  sold  to  William  Watson, 

Clark  county, 690 

Miss  Hilton,  by  Headland,  sold  to  David  Watson,  Union  county,  875 

Alexandrina,  by  Magistrate  (10487),  sold  to  D.  Watson,  Union  Co.,  560 
Blossom,  by  Teeswater  Lad,  a  son  of  Lord   Barmpton   (11708), 

sold  to  David  Watson,  Union  county, 650 

Yorkshire  Dairy  Cow,*  sold  to  Joseph  Negley,  Clark  county, 425 

Monsoon,*  sold  to  Joseph  Reyburn,  Madison  county, 295 

Average,  $747  each.  $6,720 

In  the  year  1853,  Dr.  A.  C.  Stevenson,  of  Green  Castle,  Indiana, 
imported  from  England  two  bulls :  Prince  of  Wales,  876,  and  Fancy 
Boy,  492 ;  and  four  cows:  Strawberry  5th,  by  Deliverance  (11347); 
Bloom  and  Violet,  by  Master  Bellville  (11795);  an<^  Miss  Welbourn 
(Vol.  2,  p.  485,  A.  H.  B.),  by  St.  John.  These  animals  and  many  of 
their  descendants  are  recorded  in  the  several  volumes  of  the  Ameri- 
can Herd  Book. 

*  The  pedigrees  of  these  cows  did  not  come  out  with  them. — L.  F.  A. 


204  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

About  the  year  1853  or  '54,  the  late  Thomas  Richardson,  an  Irish 
merchant  in  New  York  city,  imported  several  good  Short-horns,  with 
various  other  stock,  among  which  were  the  bull  Duke  of  Cambridge, 
1469  (12746),  and  cows  Bijou,  by  Crown  Prince  (10087);  Fanella,  by 
Baron  Warlaby  (7813);  Fanny  Warlaby,  by  Baron  Warlaby  (7813); 
Harmony,  by  Crown  Prince  (10087);  Laura,  by  Hector  (13002); 
Rachel,  by  Hopewell  (10332),  and  perhaps  some  others,  which  he 
kept  on  his  farm  at  Westchester.  Several  of  them  were  recorded  in 
the  American  Herd  Book.  Mr.  Richardson  was  a  spirited  and  liberal 
breeder.  His  herd  was  sold  a  short  time  previous  to  his  death,  which 
occurred  a  few  years  after  making  his  importation. 

In  the  year  1854,  the  Society  of  Shakers,  Pleasant  Hill,  Ky.,  im- 
ported the  bull  Duke  of  Cambridge,  447.  They  had  previously,  in 
1840;  in  connection  with  the  great  statesman,  Henry  Clay,  bought  for 
$1,000,  the  bull  Orozimbo,  786,  imported  by  Mr.  Shepherd,  of  Vir- 
ginia, in  the  year  1834.  This  bull  the  Shakers  bred  in  their  extensive 
herd.  In  1840  they  also  bought  8  cows,  imported  by  Mr.  Gambel, 
at  New  Orleans,  La.  Among  them  were  Daisy,  by  Barnaby  (1678), 
and  Splendor,  by  Symmetry  (2723).  The  names  of  the  six  other 
cows  are  not  given. 

In  1854,  Messrs.  Wilson  and  Searight,  imported  from  Ireland  into 
Ohio,  the  bull  Lord  Eglinton,  1795 ;  Deceiver,  401  (11340),  and  pos- 
sibly another  or  two  bulls,  together  with  some  cows,  among  which 
were  White  Rose,  by  Sir  Robert  Peel  (9658) ;  Laura,  by  Lord  Clar- 
endon (10434);  Lady  Gage,  by  Deceiver  (11340),  and  some  others. 

In  the  year  1854,  the  Society  of  Shakers,  at  Union  Village,  Warren 
county,  Ohio,  imported,  chiefly  from  the  herd  of  James  Douglass,  of 
Scotland,  12  Short-horns — 6  bulls  (including  Duke  of  Cambridge, 
447,  before  mentioned,  belonging  to  the  Shakers  at  Pleasant  Hill) 
and  6  cows.  Their  names  are  as  follows : 

BULLS. — Duke  of  Southwick,  450;  Crusader,  387;  Morning  Star, 
725;  Hearts  of  Oak,  1646;  Economist,  2809. 

Cows. — Blanche,  by  Twin  (10981) ;  Violante,  by  Trumpeter  (10978) ; 
Margaret,  by  Fitz  Adolphus  Fairfax  (9124);  Farewell,  by  Prince 
Charlie,  862  ;  Beatrice;  Lady  Blanche,  by  Matadore  (11800). 

The  same  Society  also  imported  in  1855  : 

BULL. — Captain  Balco,  1316  (12546). 

Cows. — Scottish  Belle  Center,  by  Kossuth  (11646);  Bellview,  by 
Capt.  Balco  (12546) ;  Florentia,  by  Trory  (13901). 

Also  in  1856 : 

BULLS. — King  of  Trumps,  1739;  Hawthorn  Hero,  1644^. 


CLINTON    COUNTY,    OHIO,    IMPORTATIONS.      205 


Cows. — Hawthorn  Blossom,  by  Hudibras  (10339);  Flora  Mclvor, 
by  New  Year's  Gift  (10564);  Eva,  by  Prince  Ernest  (10644);  Pre- 
serve, by  Orphan  Boy  (11879);  Duchess,  by  Captain  Balco,  1316; 
Heroine,  by  Capt.  Balco,  1316;  April  Morn,  by  Capt.  Balco,  1316. 

These  animals  were  of  excellent  quality,  and  the  importations 
since  1854,  as  those  of  that  year,  were  chiefly  from  the  herd  of 
Mr.  Douglass.  No  public  sale  was  made  of  these  cattle — most  of 
them  being  adopted  into  the  extensive  herd  of  the  Shakers,  and  there 
bred. 

In  the  year  1854  an  association  was  formed  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio. 
Their  agents,  Mr.  H.  H.  Hankins  and  another,  proceeded  to  England 
to  make  a  selection  and  bring  out  the  cattle.  The  stock,  consisting 
of  10  bulls  and  18  cows  and  heifers,  safely  arrived,  and  were  sold 
by  public  auction  at  Wilmington,  Clinton  county,  on  the  pth  August, 

as  follows : 

BULLS. 


NAME. 

COST. 
GUIN. 

PURCHASERS. 

RESIDENCE. 

DOLLS 

Warrior,  1076, 

120 

B.  Hinkson,  H.  H.  Han- 

kins and  others, 

Clinton  county,  O. 

$1200 

Whittington  2d,  2385, 
The  Marquis,  1031, 

80 
40 

Solomon  Brock, 
William  Bentley, 

Fayette  county,  O. 
Clinton  county,  O. 

9OO 
625 

Wellington,  1087, 

180 

J.  G.  Coulter,  H.  H.  Han- 

kins and  others, 

Clinton  county,  O. 

3700 

Alfred,  205, 

80 

D.  S.  King, 

Clinton  county,  O. 

900 

Duke  of  Cornwall,  by  Albert  (8816) 
Billy  Harrison,  263, 
Moonraker,  3175  (bought  with   his 

60 
125 

David  Qumn, 
Jesse  Starbuck, 

Clinton  county,  O. 
Clinton  county,  O. 

700 
1500 

dam  Sunbeam), 

Thomas  Connor, 

Fayette  county,  O. 

400 

Lord  Raine  2d,  665  (calved  on  pas- 

% 

sage), 

Daniel  Earley, 

Clinton  county,  O. 

195 

Young  Sir  Robert,  1161  (calved  on 

passage), 

Thomas  McMillen, 

Clinton  county,  O. 

250 

NAME. 

GUIN. 

PURCHASERS. 

RESIDENCE. 

DOLLS 

Duchess,  by  Norfolk  (9442), 

155 

M.  B.  Wright  and  William 

Palmer, 

Fayette  county,  O. 

$1675 

Emma,  by  Promoter  (10658), 

IOO 

Thomas  Kirk, 

Fayette  county,  O. 

750 

Hope,  by  Duke  of  York  (6947), 

50 

William  Palmer, 

Fayette  county,  O. 

IOOO 

Miss  Shaftoe,  by  Captain  Shaftoe 

Familiar,  by  Fitz  Leonard  (7010), 

IOO 

60 

Jesse  Starbuck, 
Jesse  Pancake, 

Clinton  county,  O. 
Ross  county,  O. 

650 

500 

Sunbeam,  by  Twilight  (9758),  anc 

calf  Moonraker, 

80 

J.G.Coulter  (without  calf), 

Clinton  county,  O. 

450 

Young  Emma,  by  Sailor  (9592), 

60 

H.  H.  Hankins  and  G.  C. 

Palmer. 

Clinton  county,  O. 

450 

Miss  Walton  2d,  by  Chilton  (10054), 
Princess,  by  Lord  Newton  (  ), 

25 

4° 

John  Hadley, 
Hadley  and  Hawkins, 

Clinton  county,  O. 
Clinton  county,  O. 

325 

1060 

Moonbeam,  by  Oxygen  (9464), 
Lady  Jane,  by  Whittington  (12299), 
Lady  Whittington,  by  Whittington 

40 
So 

Henry  Kirk, 
David  Watson, 

Fayette  county,  O. 
Madison  county,  O. 

500 
500 

(12299), 

5° 

William  Reed, 

Clinton  county,  O. 

300 

Strawberry,  by  Wiseman  (12317), 
Louisa,  by  Crusader  (10088),  bought 
with  dam,  Miss  Shaftoe, 

So 

James  Fullington, 
James  R.  Mills, 

Union  county,  O. 
Clinton  county,  O. 

675 
300 

Jessamine,  by  Y.  Chilton  (11278), 

25 

J.  O'B.  Renick, 

Franklin  county,  O. 

475 

Victoria  (pedigree  not  obtained), 

35 

D.  Persinger, 

Fayette  county,  O. 

IOOO 

Queen  (calf  of  Victoria),  by  The 

Marquis,  1031, 

H.  S.  Pavy, 

Fayette  county,  O. 

425 

206  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

In  the  same  year — 1854 — an*  association  was  formed  in  Clark 
county,  Ohio,  and  an  importation  made  under  the  agency  of  the 
late  Dr.  Arthur  Watts,  of  Chillicothe,  and  Mr.  Alexander  Waddle,  of 

South  Charleston,  who  proceeded  to  England  and  bought  9  bulls  and 
20  cows  and  heifers.  A  public  sale  was  made  of  the  stock  on  the 
6th  day  of  September  of  that  year,  which  we  transcribe  from  their 
catalogue : 

BULLS. 

Buckingham  2d,  297,  sold  to  Wm.  D.  Pierce,  Clark  county,  Ohio,  $1,000 

The  Duke,  1029,  sold  to  W.  C.  Davis,  Montgomery  county,  O.,. . .  625 

New  Year's  Day,  746,  sold  to  C.  M.  Clark  &  Co.,  Clark  county,  O.,  3,500 

Czar,  395,  sold  to  A.  J.  Paige,  Clark  county,  O., 1,900 

Medalist,  697,  sold  to  Arthur  Watts,  Chillicothe,  O., 2,100 

Lord  Stanwick,  668,  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle,  Clark  county,  O., 500 

Rodolph,  923,  sold  to  W.  C.  Davis,  Montgomery  county,  O., 200 

Lord  of  the  Isles,  3090,  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle,  Clark  county,  O.,. .  575 

Shylock,  965,  sold  to  John  Hadley,  Clinton  county,  O., 300 

Cows. 
Aylesby  Lady,  by  Baron  Warlaby  (7813),  sold  to  A.  J.  Paige,  Clark 

county,  O., 1,425 

Roman  I3th,  by  Will  Honeycomb  (5666),  sold  to  Jacob   Pierce, 

Clark  county,  0 1.300 

Zealous,  by  St.  Albans  (7462),  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle,  Clark  Co.,  O.,  1,000 

Dahlia,  by  Upstart  (7960),  sold  to  A.  J.  Paige,  Clark  county,  O.,. .  1,100 

Nectar,  by  North  Star  (9447),  sold  to  James  Davis, 600 

Lavender,  by  St.  Albans  (7462),  sold  to  Arthur  Watts,  Chillicothe,  O.,  500 
Lancaster  I7th,  by  Prince  Royal  (7371),  sold  to  William  D.  Pierce, 

Clark  county,  O., 900 

Roan  Lady,  by  St.  Albans  (7462),  sold  to  William  D.  Pierce,  Clark 

county,  O., 1,000 

Lancaster  igth,  by  St.  Albans  (7462),  sold  to  L.  B.  Sprague,  Clark 

county,  O., 

Venus,  by  Lord  Byron  (11710),  sold  to  Wm.  D.  Pierce,  Clark  Co.,  O.,  1,075 

Zenobia,  by  Crusade  (7938),  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle,  Clark  Co.,  O.,. .  625 

Nell  2d,  by  Monarch  ( ),  sold  to  A.  Toland 

Butterfly  I3th,  by  Monarch  ( ),  sold  to  H.  Stickney, 290 

Blushing  Beauty,  by  Crown  Prince  (10087),  sold  to  Alex.  Waddle, 

Clark  county,  O., 425 

Rose  of  Panton,  by  Leonidas  (10414),  sold  to  A.  Toland 375 

Zephyr,  by  Beaufort  (9943),  sold  to  L.  B.  Sprague,  Clark  Co.,  O.,  400 
Easter  Day,  by  Lord  Marquis  (10459),  sold  to  C.  M.  Clark,  Clark 

county,  O., 1,125 

Blush  1 7th,  by  Baron  Warlaby  (7813),  sold  to  G.  Green,  Blooming- 
ton,  111., • 470 

Rosy,  by  Royal  Buck  (10750),  sold  to  G.  Green,  Bloomington,  111.,  400 

Silk,  by  Hopewell,  sold  to  Charles  Phellis,  Madison  county,  O.,. . .  205 


LIVINGSTON    CO.,    N.  Y.,    IMPORTATIONS.    '      2O/ 

Much  valuable  stock  has  since  sprung  from  these  animals. 
In  1854  the  Kentucky  Importing  Company  imported  from  England 
and  placed  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Charles  W.  Innes,  near  Lexington, 
and  in  October  of  that  year  sold  the  following  Short-horns : 

BULLS. 

Emigrant,  472,  sold  to  Silas  Corbin,  Bourbon  county,  Ky., $  205 

Sirius,  4371  (13737),  sold  to  R-  A.  Alexander,  Woodford  county,  Ky.,     3,500 
Macgregor,  675,  sold  to  J.  Hill,  Bourbon  county,  and  C.  W.  Innes, 

Fayette  county,  Ky., 600 

Earl  De  Grey,  2801,  sold  to  W.  C.  Goodloe, 250 

Oakum,  763,  sold  to  Bagg,  Finley  and  Rosele,  Scott  county,  Ky., . . 

Capt.  Stouffer,  311,  sold  to  J.  McMeekin,  Scott  county,  Ky, 167 

Cows. 

Irene,' by  Sheldon  (8557),  sold  to  J.  Hill,  Bourbon  county,  Ky.,. . . .  520 

Amazon,  by  Newmarket  (10563),  sold  to  H.  Clay,  Bourbon  Co.,  Ky.,  225 
Bessy  Howard,  by  Fitz  Walter  (10232),  sold  to  R.  A.  Alexander, 

Woodford  county,  Ky.,  . . ., 650 

Lizzy,  by  Marquis  of  Carrabas  (11789),  sold  to  R.  A.  Alexander, 

Woodford  county,  Ky 600 

Pine  Apple,  by  Lord  Morpeth  (13205),  sold  to  W.  F.  Jones, 510 

Ruby,  by  Gen.  Fairfax  (11519),  sold  to  R.  A.  Gano,  Bourbon  Co.,  215 

Commerce,  by  Concord  (11302),  sold  to  J.  McMeekin,  Scott  Co.,  Ky.,  415 

Peeress,  by  Treasurer  (13899),  sold  to Gaines, 275 

Winny,  by  Crusade  (7938),  sold  to  Albert  Allen,  Fayette  Co.,  Ky.,  300 

Mary,  by  Sweet  William  (9701),  sold  to  W.  Simms, 240 

Welcome,  by  Beaufort  (9943),  sold  to  J.  McMeekin,  Scott  Co.,  Ky,  505 

Shepherdess,  by  Bridegroom  (11203),  sold  to  R.  Innes,  Fayette  Co.,  505 

Matilda,  by  Villiers  (13959),  sold  to  S.  Corbin,  Bourbon  Co.,  Ky.,  205 

Downhorn,  by  Liberator  (7140),  sold  to  J.  McClelland, 405 

In  the  same  year,  a  number  of  wealthy  farmers  and  cattle  breeders 
of  the  Genesee  valley,  N.  Y.,  known  as  "The  Livingston  County 
Stock  Association,"  through  their  agents,  Messrs.  David  Brooks  and 
S.  L.  Fuller,  purchased  in  England  24  well-selected  Short-horns. 
They  were  shipped  for  America,  but  during  a  stormy  passage  12  of 
them  were  lost,  and  only  one-half  the  original  number  arrived  at 
their  destination.  Among  the  surviving  animals  were  the  bulls  Blet- 
soe,  2548,  purchased  by  Sackett,  Barber  &  Co.,  and  Usurper,  3522, 
owned  by  the  late  Judge  Carroll,  of  Groveland.  Also  the  cows 
Australia,  by  Lord  Foppington  (10437)  >  Hopeless,  by  Horatio  (10335); 
Lady  Ellington,  by  Broughton  Hero  (6811);  and  Music,  by  Balco 
(9918).  These  four  cows  became  the  property  of  the  late  General 
James  S.  Wadsworth,  of  Geneseo.  Also  Phoenix  2d,  by  Horatio 
(10335),  which  was  owned  by  J.  H.  Bennett,  of  Avon. 


208  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Shortly  after  this  importation  came  out  to  the  same  parties  the  bull 
Governor,  2922,  owned  by  Messrs.  Brooks,  Bennett  &  Co.,  and  two 
cows,  the  names  of  which  are  not  how  recollected.  Like  some  other 
importers,  these  parties  were  negligent  in  keeping  records  of  the 
names  of  their  animals,  or  pedigrees.  We  have  been  unable  to 
obtain  further  particulars  of  these  importations.  Many  of  their  pro- 
duce are  recorded  in  the  American  Herd  Book. 

In  the  year  1856,  an  importation  of  Short-horns  was  made  by  the 
"  Mason  and  Bracken  Counties  Importing  Company  "  into  Kentucky, 
of  4  bulls  and  12  cows.  They  were  kept  and  bred  by  the  importers, 
and  sold  near  Germantown,  Ky.,  on  the  ist  October,  1859;  the  herd 
then  consisted  of  the  original  importations  and  their  increase,  12  bulls 
and  17  cows  and  heifers.  The  imported  ones  were : 

BULLS. — Vatican  (12260)  (bred  by  Earl  Ducie),  by  Usurer  (9763)  ; 
Blandimar  (bred  by  Sir  Charles  Knightly),  by  Earl  of  Dublin  (16178)  ; 
Emperor  Napoleon  (bred  by  Mr.  Fawkes),  by  Bridegroom  (11203); 
and  Grisset  (bred  by  Mr.  Christy),  by  Duke  of  Beauford  (11377). 

Cows. — Julia,  by  Young  Grant ;  Duenna,  by  Duke  of  Cambridge 
(12742);  Light  of  the  Harem,  by  Nabob  (11834);  Granny  Light,  by 
Bridegroom  (11203);  Alice,  by  Harbinger  (10297);  Diana,  by  Bren- 
nus  (8902);  Lady  Laura,  by  Grand  Duke  (12973);  High  Bank,  by 
Horatio  (10335);  Hasty,  by  Horatio  (10335);  Violet,  by  Duke  of 
Beauford  (11377);  Jennie  Deans,  by  Duke  of  Beauford  (11377); 
Lady  Bariscourt,  by  Jasper  (11069). 

Several  of  these  animals  were  selected  from  choice  herds  in  Eng- 
land and  Ireland,  and  they  were,  no  doubt,  valuable  cattle.  The 
catalogue  from  which  the  above  list  is  taken  gives  no  names  of  the 
purchasers,  nor  prices  at  which  the  cattle  or  their  produce  were  sold. 
We  have  made  inquiries  at  the  proper  quarter  for  particulars,  but 
have  not  been  able  to  obtain  them.  Few  of  their  descendants  have 
found  their  way  into  the  Herd  Books,  and  we  infer  that  the  calamitous 
financial  times  during  which  the  sale  was  made,  swallowed  many  of 
them  in  the  common  ruin,  or  run  them  into  the  shambles  of  the 
butcher. 

In  the  year  1857,  a  number  of  substantial  farmers  and  stock  breed- 
ers in  the  central  part  of  Illinois  came  together  and  formed  "  The 
Illinois  Importing  Association."  The  late  Capt.  James  N.  Brown, 
who,  in  1833,  had  removed  from  Kentucky  into  Sangamon  county, 
111.,  brought  with  him  the  first  established  herd  of  Short-horns  known 
in  the  State  of  his  adoption.  He  had  bred  them  assiduously  and 
successfully  but  recognizing  the  advantage  of  an  infusion  of  more 


ILLINOIS    IMPORTING    ASSOCIATION.  209 

popular  blood,  he  induced  several  others  to  join  him  in  the  enterprise 
of  obtaining  it.  Himself,  together  with  Messrs.  H.  C.  Johns  and 
Henry  Jacoby  went  abroad  as  agents,  and  purchased  10  bulls  and  21 
cows  and  heifers,  well  selected  from  standard  herds  in  England,  Ire- 
land and  Scotland.  Of  these,  three  bulls  and  one  heifer  died  on  their 
passage.  The  remainder,  twenty-seven  in  number,  safely  arrived  in 
Illinois.  They  were  sold  by  auction  at  Springfield,  August  27,  1857, 
as  follows : 

BULLS. 

Defender,  2704  (12687),  s°ld  to  A.  G.  Carle,  Champaign  Co.,  111.,. .  $2,500 
King  Alfred,  3053,  sold  to  Brown,  Jacoby  &  Co.,  Sangamon  Co.,. .     1,300 

Admiral,  2473,  sold  to  S.  Dunlap  &  Co.,  Sangamon  county, 2,500 

Master  Lownds,  3140^,  sold  to  J.  H.  Spears,  Menard  county, 725 

Argus,  2502,  sold  to  George  Barnet,  Will  county 2,058 

Doubloon,  3833^,  sold  to  Wash.  lies,  Sangamon  county, i>°75 

Goldfinder,  2920%,  sold  to  J.  C.  Bone,  Sangamon  county, 725 

Cows. 

Bella,  by  California  (10017),  sold  to  J.  Ogle,  St.  Clair  county, $75O 

Caroline,  by  Arrow  (9906),  sold  to  J.  M.  Hill,  Morgan  county,  ....  500 
Stella,  by  Snowstorm  (12119),  s°ld  to  Mr.  Bohnman,  St.  Clair  Co.,  925 
Lady  Harriet,  by  Procurator  (10657),  sold  to  J.  H.  Jacoby,  Sanga- 
mon county, 1,300 

Cassandra  2d,  by  Master  Charlie  (13312),  sold  to  H.  Ormsby,  San- 
gamon county, , 675 

Western  Lady,  by  Grand  Turk,  2935  (12969),  sold  to  J.  N.  Brown, 

Sangamon  county, !,325 

Empress  Eugenie,  by  Bridegroom  (11203),  s°ld  to  J.  Ogle,  St.  Clair 

county, 675 

Pomegranate,  by  Master  Charlie  (13312),  sold  to  T.  Simpkins,  Pike 

county, 975 

Lily,  by  Snowstorm  (12119),  sold  to  George  Barnet,  Will  Co., 550 

Constance,  by  Snowstorm  (12119),  so^  to  George  Barnett,  Will  Co.,  700 
Empress,  by  Tortworth  Duke  (13892),  sold  to  Henry  Jacoby,  San- 
gamon county, 1,725 

Rachel  2d,  by  Duke  of  Bolton  (12738),  sold  to  J.  N.  Brown,  San- 
gamon county, 3>O25 

Minx,  by  Lord  Spencer  (13251),  sold  to  J.  G.  Loose,  Sangamon  Co.,  800 

Adelaide,  by  Matadore  (11800),  sold  to  R.  Morrison,  Morgan  Co.,  825 

Emerald,  by  Hopewell  (10332),  sold  to  J.  C.  Bone,  Sangamon  Co.,  2,125 

Perfection,  by  The  Baron  (13833),  sold  to  E.  B.  Holt,  Scott  Co.,. .  900 

Coquette,  by  Economist  (11425),  sold  to  George  Barnet,  Will  Co.,  550 
Fama,  by  2d  Grand  Duke,  2181  (12961),  sold  to  J.  H.  Spears  &  Co., 

Menard  county, 1,050 

Coronation,  by  Cheltenham  (12588),  sold  to  J.  A.  Pickrell,  Madison 

county, 500 

Violet,  by  Young  Scotland  (13681),  sold  to  J.  H.  Judy,  Menard  Co.,  700 

13 


210  HISTORY     OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

From  these  animals,  in  most  instances,  have  since  been  bred  a 
numerous  progeny. 

The  result  of  this  sale,  confined  (as  may  be  supposed  from  the 
extent  of  the  prices  obtained)  chiefly  to  those  who  had  contributed 
to  the  funds  of  the  association,  testified  that  the  Short-horn  spirit 
was  yet  buoyant,  and  in  the  course  of  successful  continuance. 

Just  after  the  close  of  this  transaction  came  down  upon  the  country 
the  great  commercial  revulsion  of  1857,  long  memorable  in  the  finan- 
cial annals  of  our  history.  This  crisis  was  severe  upon  the  agricul- 
tural interests,  as  well  as  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  industries 
of  the  country,  and  the  values  of  Short-horn  cattle,  in  common  with 
other  commodities,  suffered.  For  a  time  their  sales  were  dull,  and 
prices,  as  in  1842,  and  years  afterwards,  with  some  few  and  noted 
exceptions,  became  almost  nominal. 

In  1 86 1  followed  our  unfortunate  civil  war,  revolutionizing  not 
only  the  political  and  financial  policy  of  many  States  in  our  hitherto 
united  country,  but  temporarily  depressing  values  of  all  industrial 
products.  As  the  war  grew  wilder  and  more  desperate,  although  all 
commodities  of  necessary  consumption  rose  rapidly  under  an  infla- 
ted currency,  and  the  restricted  labor  of  the  farms  consequent  on 
the  call  of  soldiers  to  the  field,  an  interregnum  in  the  product  and 
sales  of  Short-horns  was  widely  and  disastrously  felt  among  their 
breeders.  In  the  Northern  States  they  were  undisturbed  by  invading 
armies ;  but  prudent  and  considerate  men,  usually  ready  for  success- 
ful enterprises,  as  purchasers,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  spirited 
breeders  of  the  more  fashionable  strains  of  blood,  let  the  Short-horns, 
as  well  as  other  improved  breeding  animals,  severely  alone.  The 
Kentuckians,  in  whose  hitherto  favored  State  the  Short-horns,  early 
established,  had  long  flourished  in  their  fullness  of  pride  and  excel- 
lence, as  it  became  ravaged  by  conflicting  troops  on  either  side, 
hid  their  cattle  away  from  their  spoilers,  or  drove  them  into  adjoining 
Northern  States,  where  they  could  remain  secure  from  danger.  All 
was  uncertainty,  so  far  as  related  to  the  values  of  their  cherished 
herds;  and  thus  for  four  years  of  civil  war,  matters  remained  in 
doubtful  anticipation. 

Yet  the  consumption  and  disorganization  of  the  war  had  created 
a  fearful  void  in  meat-producing  animals  throughout  the  country, 
North  and  South  alike,  and  on  the  return  of  peace  and  a  more  settled 
order  of  things,  the  Short-horn  breeders  deliberately  cast  about  and 
ascertained  that  their  hitherto  cherished  herds  had  suffered  but  little 
diminution  of  numbers  beyond  what  their  productive  increase  had 


SHORT-HORN    IMPORTATIONS.  211 

made  good,  and  that  previous  values  had  now  returned  with  a  new 
demand  and  widely  extended  market  for  their  animals.  So  stood  the 
Short-horn  animals  of  our  country  at  the  close  of  the  year  1865. 

After  the  civil  war  was  ended  a  few  importations  were  again  made 
by  some  of  our  enterprising  breeders.  Mr.  James  O.  Sheldon,  of 
Geneva,  N.  Y.,  previously  mentioned,  in  the  year  1859,  imported  the 
bull  Grand  Duke  of  Oxford,  3988  (16184),  and  the  cow  Miss  Butter- 
fly, by  Master  Butterfly  (14918),  both  of  which  he  bred  in  his  herd. 
He  had  previously  become  possessed  of  several  animals  from  the  fine 
herd  of  Mr.  Thorne,  and  to  them  had  added  extensive  purchases 
from  the  herd  of  Mr.  Alexander,  of  Kentucky,  and  soon  afterwards 
of  the  entire  herd  of  Mr.  Thorne.  In  the  year  1868  or  '69,  he  im- 
ported eight  heifers,  selected  from  some  of  the  best  herds  in  England. 
The  pedigrees  are  recorded  in  the  later  volumes  of  the  American 
Herd  Book,  and  several  of  them  afterwards  passed,  at  the  final  sale 
of  his  herd,  into  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Walcott  and  Campbell,  New 
York  Mills,  Oneida  county,  N.  Y. 

Messrs.  Walcott  and  Campbell,  who  had  a  few  years  previous  be- 
come possessed  of  many  good  animals,  and  in  1870  purchased  the 
large  herd  of  Mr.  Sheldon,  some  70  or  80  in  number,  about  the  same 
time,  or  previously,  made  several  valuable  importations — bulls  and 
cows — from  Mr.  Thomas  C.  Booth,  and  other  noted  English  breeders. 
They  were  purchased  without  regard  to  prices,  so  that  their  qual- 
ities were  of  a  high  order.  One  of  the  cows,  Bride  of  the  Vale,  was 
bred  by  and  purchased  of  Mr.  T.  C.  Booth,  at  the  price  of  1,000 
guineas,  but  on  the  express  condition  that  she  was  to  be  taken  to 
America,  as  Mr.  Booth  would  not  part  with  a  female  of  her  tribe  to 
be  retained  in  England.  Their  importations  of  several  choice  selec- 
tions were  continued  until  into  the  year  1871,  and  are  recorded 
in  Vols.  10  and  u,  American  Herd  Book. 

In  1871,  Mr.  Lewis  Hampton,  and  some  associates,  of  Clark  county, 
Ky.,  went  to  England  and  selected  several  valuable  cows  and  heifers 
from  different  breeders  there,  and  brought  them  out  as  fresh  crosses  to 
their  already  valuable  herds.  They  were  sold  at  auction  a  few  weeks 
after  their  arrival  in  Kentucky,  mostly  among  the  associates,  and  their 
pedigrees  are  recorded  in  Vol.  n,  American  Herd  Book. 

In  the  same  year  Mr.  Edwin  G.  Bedford,  of  Bourbon  county,  Ky., 
also  sent  out  and  purchased  (through  Mr.  John  Thornton,  of  Lon- 
don) several  valuable  cows  and  heifers  on  his  own  individual  account, 
which  he  adopted  into  his  long  established  home-bred  herd.  Their 
pedigrees  may  be  found  in  Vol.  n,  American  Herd  Book. 


212  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

During  the  same  year,  Capt.  Pratt,  of  the  ship  Hudson,  trading 
between  New  York  and  London,  brought  out  in  June  four  fine  heifers. 
In  November,  afterwards,  he  again  brought  out  two  bulls  and  six 
heifers,  from  the  herd  of  Mr.  Torr,  and  Messrs.  Dudding,  of  Lincoln- 
shire, all  superior  animals,  which  were  placed  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  L.  F. 
Allen,  near  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  all — together  with  two  bull  calves, 
dropped  since  their  arrival  from  England — afterwards  sold,  by  Messrs. 
A.  B.  Allen  &  Co.,  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Pickrell,  Harristown,  111.  Their  pedi- 
grees are  recorded  in  Vol.  u,  American  Herd  Book. 

There  may  have  been  a  few  other  Short-horns  imported  into  the 
United  States  in  the  year  1871,  but  if  so  we  have  no  immediate 
account  of  them. 

IMPORTATIONS  OF  SHORT-HORNS  INTO  CANADA. 

We  would  gladly  narrate  a  full  and  particular  history  of  the  Can- 
ada Short-horns,  their  introduction  and  progress,  as  has  been  done 
with  those  of  the  United  States,  had  we  the  material  at  hand.  But 
with  all  our  efforts  to  obtain  them  our  notes  are  scant.  We  give  such 
memoranda  as  we  have. 

In  the  year  1833,  Mr.  Rowland  Wingfield,  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
Toronto,  Canada  West  (now  Ontario),  imported  from  England  the 
bulls  Reformer,  898,  and  Young  Farmer,  62,  also  cows  Favorite,  by 
Warden  (1563);  Favorite  2d,  by  Kenwood  (2114);  Pedigree,  by 
Mynheer  (2345);  Countess,  by  Warwick  (2815);  and  Lily,  by  War- 
den (1563).  Their  produce  are  now  in  several  herds. 

The  succeeding  year  The  Home  District  Agricultural  Society  im- 
ported four  thorough-bred  bulls — names  not  ascertained — and  spread 
them  in  various  directions.  They  were  chiefly  bred  to  common  cows, 
as  we  find  no  pure  Short-horn  produce  resulting  from  them. 

About  the  year,  1836,  the  late  Mr.  Adam  Ferguson  imported  into 
the  vicinity  of  Hamilton,  C.  W.,  the  bull  Agricola  (1614) — afterwards 
called  Sir  Walter  by  Mr.  Ferguson — and  cows  Cherry,  by  Dunstan 
Castle;  and  Beauty,  by  Snowball  (2674).  They  were  successfully 
bred  by  Mr.  Ferguson,  and  their  produce  are  now  found  in  many 
herds. 

In  or  about  the  same  year  of  Mr.  Ferguson's  importation,  Messrs. 
George  and  John  Simpson  imported  from  Yorkshire,  England,  and 
brought  with  them  to  New  Market,  C.  W.,  from  the  herd  of  Mr. 
Parrington,  Stockton-on-Tees,  several  good  Short-horns,  which  they 
bred  for  some  years.  The  results  of  their  breeding  we  .have  not  been 
able  to  accurately  ascertain. 


CANADIAN    IMPORTATIONS.  213 

During  several  years  afterwards  various  other  importations  were 
made,  both  into  Lower  and  Upper  Canada,  of  which  we  have  been 
unable  to  gather  either  dates  of  the  importations,  or  names  of  ani- 
mals brought  out.  Among  these  William  and  George  Miller,  of 
Markham,  about  the  year  1850,  and  in  several  years  since,  imported 
a  number  of  valuable  animals — chiefly  from  Scotland — but  as  we 
have  had  no  catalogue,  nor  full  records  of  their  pedigrees,  no  partic- 
ular accounts  can  be  given  of  them. 

In  the  year  1855,  Mr.  Frederick  Wm.  Stone,  cf  Guelph,  began  a 
series  of  importations  from  several  noted  English  herds,  which  he 
has  continued  through  intervening  years  down  to  nearly  the  present 
time. 

In  1859  or  '60,  Mr.  N.  J.  McGillivray,  of  Williamstown,  Glengarry 
county,  C.  W.,  imported  a  bull  and  four  cows  from  the  herds  of  Mr. 
Cruikshank,  of  Sittyton,  and  others,  in  Scotland. 

Mr.  David  Christie,  of  Brantford,  commenced  his  importations  in 
the  year  1864,  of  several  fine  Short-horns,  chiefly  from  the  herd  of 
Mr.  Douglass,  of  Athelstaneford,  Scotland,  which  he  placed  with  a 
thorough-bred  herd  established  by  him  some  years  earlier.  He  has 
since  added  to  his  importations,  all,  or  nearly  all  of  which  have  been 
recorded  in  the  later  volumes  of  the  American  Herd  Book. 

Other  parties,  comprising  the  names  of  Mr.  Armstrong,  of  Mark- 
ham;  Mr.  Mairs,  of  Vespra;  Messrs.  Wade,  of  Cobourg;  Mr.  Mul- 
lock, of  Waterdown ;  Mr.  Ashton,  of  Gait ;  Mr.  Ashworth,  of  Ottawa ; 
Mr.  Place,  of  Beachville;  Mr.  Petty,  of  Huron;  Dr.  Phillips,  of 
Prescott ;  Mr.  John  Thomson,  of  Whitney ;  Mr.  Roddick,  of  Cobourg, 
The  Quebec  Agricultural  Society,  and  probably  some  others  in  dif- 
ferent localities  have  made  importations.  Added  to  the  above  names 
occur  John  Miller,  of  Brougham ;  William  Miller,  Jr.,  of  Pickering ; 
Simon  Beattie,  of  Markham,  and  Richard  Gibson,  who  have  made 
valuable  importations  within  a  few  years  past. 

But  the  most  striking  series  of  importations,  either  in  number  or 
value,  ever  made  into  Canada,  were  by  Mr.  Mark  H.  Cochrane,  an 
extensive  manufacturer  and  merchant,  of  Montreal,  and  placed  on 
his  large  farm  of  Hillhurst,  at  Compton,  Province  of  Quebec,  begin- 
ning in  1867,  and  continued  until  and  into  the  early  part  of  the 
present  year,  1872. 

In  1867  he  shipped  from  Glasgow,  Scotland,  his  first  importation 
of  two  animals :  the  cow  Rosedale,  by  Velasco  (15443),  and  the  bull 
Baron  Booth  of  Lancaster,  7535,  American  Herd  Book. 


214  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

In  August,  1868,  he  shipped  from  Liverpool,  Eng.,  seven  cows  and 
heifers,  and  one  bull,  Robert  Napier,  8975,  A.  H.  B. 

In  June,  1869,  he  shipped  from  Glasgow  four  cows  and  heifers. 

In  August  following  he  shipped  from  Glasgow  five  cows  and  heifers, 
and  two  bulls. 

On  August  2d,  1870,  he  shipped  from  Liverpool  thirty-five  cows  and 
heifers,  and  four  bulls;  on  August  7th,  following,  he  shipped  also 
from  Liverpool  five  cows  and  two  bulls. 

In  the  months  of  August  and  October,  1870,  he  also  shipped  from 
Liverpool  seven  cows  and  heifers,  and  three  bulls. 

In  July,  1871,  he  shipped  from  Liverpool  twenty  cows  and  heifers, 
and  four  bulls. 

In  March,  1872,  he  also  had  shipped  from  Liverpool  three  cows 
and  heifers,  making  in  all  the  shipments  of  the  last  six  years  eighty- 
seven  well-bred  Short-horns. 

Of  the  whole  number  a  few  died,  or  were  killed  by  accident  on 
their  passages ;  the  remainder  all  arrived  safely  onto  Mr.  Cochrane's 
farm  at  Compton.  The  animals  were  selected  by  Mr.  Cochrane  him- 
self, for  which  he  made  several  voyages  across  the  Atlantic,  or  with 
the  assistance  of  Mr.  Simon  Beattie,  of  Canada,  and  Mr.  John  Thorn- 
ton, the  noted  stock  auctioneer,  of  London.  No  importation  of 
Short-horns  ever  made  by  an  American  have  equaled  in  cost,  the 
stock  brought  out  by  Mr.  Cochrane.  Among  them  were  two  Bates 
Duchess  heifers,  at  the  price  cost  of  2,500  guineas,  or  upwards  of 
$6,250  each.  A  considerable  number  of  them  were  either  pure 
Booth,  or  containing  several  crosses  of  the  blood  of  the  Booth  tribes ; 
several  others  were  deep  in  various  tribes  of  Bates  blood.  The  ped- 
igrees of  all,  or  nearly  all  these  animals,  and  their  produce  since  their 
importation  have  been  recorded  in  the  later  volumes  of  the  American 
Herd  Book,  where  they  can  be  readily  found.  Many  of  them  were 
sold  soon  after  their  arrival,  and  brought  into  the  United  States ; 
others  have  been  sold,  and  still  remain  in  Canada,  in  the  hands  of 
different  owners,  while  a  still  larger  number  remain  in  the  home  herd 
of  Mr.  Cochrane. 

Thus  concludes  our  history  of  the  Short-horns,  both  in  England, 
until  a  modern  period,  and  in  America  down  to  the  present  time ;  but 
as  some  other  important  matters  connected  with  them  are  worthy  of 
notice,  we  shall  occupy  a  few  further  pages  in  their  consideration. 


THE    SHORT-HORNS    AS    MILKERS.  215 

THE  SHORT-HORNS  AS  MILKERS. 

Our  history  has  fully  shown  that  from  the  earliest  period  the  Short- 
horn cows,  as  a  rule,  were  large  milkers,  and  when  cultivated  with  a 
view  to  dairy  purposes  no  animals  of  any  breed  excelled,  and  few  if 
any  equaled  them.  When  milk  has  been  the  main  object  in  their 
keeping,  no  cows  have  made  larger  yields  according  to  the  consump- 
tion of  food  than  they. 

Even  in  our  own  time  we  have  frequent  records  of  cows,  in  the 
height  of  the  grass  season,  giving  24  to  36,  and  even  40  quarts  per 
day.  Numerous  notes  of  the  kind  may  be  found  attached  to  the 
pedigrees  of  cows  in  the  several  volumes  of  the  American  Herd  Book, 
and  the  yields  of  butter  have  been  correspondingly  large.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  quote  these  items,  as  every  one  acquainted  with  the  race 
will  call  to  mind  more  or  less  of  them.  It  is  true,  as  a  rule,  that  the 
cow  which  is  a  profuse  milker  must  be  comparatively  lean  in  flesh, 
which  detracts  from  her  appearance  when  by  the  side  of  one  other- 
wise equally  good,  or  perhaps  inferior  in  quality,  which  gives  little 
milk,  and  runs  more  to  flesh.  Yet  the  large  milker,  when  dried  off 
and  fed,  may  present  as  fine  a  form  and  development  as  another 
which  never  gave  more  milk  than  would  nurse  a  calf  for  five  or  six 
months  after  birth,  even  in  cases  where  the  feeding  is  equal  in  quality. 
It  may  be  added  that  the  heavy  milker  requires  more  feed  during  her 
dairy  season  than  the  ot4*er,  while  the  latter  carries  a  heavy  carcass 
of  flesh ;  but  the  additional  food  is  more  than  compensated  in  the 
milk  or  butter  she  yields. 

In  the  wide  beef-producing  districts  of  our  country  where  milk  is  of 
little  object  beyond  that  of  nursing  a  calf  to  the  proper  age  of  wean- 
ing, the  milking  faculty  of  the  Short-horn  cow  has  been  partially 
bred  out,  but  it  is  capable  of  being  restored  in  a  few  generations  by 
the  application  of  bulls  descended  from  herds  where  the  dairy  quality 
has  been  preserved.  Indeed  we  have  seen  wonderful  milkers  occa- 
sionally strike  out  in  herds  where  the  cows  were  only  nominal  in  their 
yields,  abundantly  testifying  that  the  dairy  quality  is  inherent  in  their 
organization.  As  thorough-bred  cows,  from  their  much  higher  value 
for  breeding  purposes  than  for  dairy  use,  are  likely  for  many  years  to 
be  devoted  solely  to  breeding,  it  is  not  at  all  probable,  unless  for  the 
production  of  bulls  to  beget  grade  dairy  cows,  that  they  will  be  reared 
with  much  regard  to  their  lacteal  qualities,  unless  in  certain  sections 
of  the  country  where  milk,  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  is  the  chief 
object.  In  this  view,  we  have  no  suggestions  to  make  other  than  that 


2l6  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

each  party  choosing  the  Short-horns  for  his  stock,  should  exercise 
his  own  judgment  in  their  selection,  whether  they  be  greater  or  lesser 
milk  producers.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  Short-horns  may  be. 
the  maximum  or  the  minimum  of  milkers,  as  the  parties  needing 
them  may  determine. 

As  A  FLESH-PRODUCING  ANIMAL. 

Nothing  of  the  bovine  race  ever  has,  or  probably  ever  can,  equal 
the  Short-horns  in  early  maturity,  rapid  accumulation  of  flesh,  full- 
ness and  ripeness  of  points,  according  to  the  amount  of  food  they 
consume,  and  assimilating  that  food  to  its  most  profitable  use.  A 
century  of  experience  in  Britain  and  half  a  century  of  experience  in 
America,  with  a  rapidly  growing  confidence  in  their  flesh-taking 
capacity  have  placed  the  Short-horns  in  the  foremost  rank  of  all 
neat  cattle.  It  must  be  a  newly-discovered  animal  that  will  supercede 
the  Short-horn  wherever  abundant  forage  and  rich  pasturage  are 
found.  With  cows  of  the  common,  or  of  inferior  breeds,  on  be- 
coming aged,  and  their  profitable  use  for  the  dairy  passed,  they  are, 
comparatively,  almost  useless  for  feeding  into  a  profitable  carcass  of 
flesh  from  the  disproportionate  amount  of  forage  they  consume  and 
the  light  yields  of  meat  they  make.  It  is  not  so  with  the  Short-horn. 
Her  broad,  well-proportioned  anatomy,  with  sufficient  food,  takes 
flesh  rapidly,  and  within  a  period  that  would  enable  the  inferior  one 
to  reach  only  a  preparatory,  or  thriving  condition,  the  Short-horn  will 
be  fed  off  and  fit  for  the  shambles.  Thus,  when  the  native  or  com- 
mon cow  is  done  with  for  the  dairy,  and  becomes  comparatively 
worthless,  the  other  yields  a  profitable  carcass  of  beef,  hide  and  tal- 
low, as  if  in  her  prime  of  age  and  usefulness. 

VITALITY,  LONGEVITY,  AND  FERTILITY. 

No  cattle,  of  whatever  race  or  breed,  have  exhibited  more  of  the 
above  named  qualities  than  the  Short-horns.  We  might  mention 
scores  of  bulls  by  name  which  have  proved  useful  to  extreme  ages, 
both  in  England  and  America. 

Among  the  English  bulls,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  celebrated 
of  the  Herd  Book  animals,  Hubback  (319),  begat  calves  after  he  was 
ten  years  old.  Favorite  (252)  begat  calves  at  thirteen  years.  He 
was  ten  years  old  when  he  sired  the  celebrated  Comet  (155).  Marske 
(418)  was  useful  thirteen  years,  and  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  And 


VITALITY,    LONGEVITY,    AND    FERTILITY.       2I/ 

so  with  many  other  English  bulls,  who  were  the  sires  of  as  good 
stock  in  their  later  as  in  their  earlier  years.  Among  the  American 
tmlls  Washington  (1566),  bred  by  Mr.  Champion,  in  England,  im- 
ported and  owned  by  Gen.  Van  Rensselaer,  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  died 
at  nineteen  years  old,  and  held  his  virility  to  within  a  year  of  his 
death.  Oliver  (2387),  bred  by  Col.  Powel,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and 
owned  in  Kentucky,  got  calves  at  seventeen  years  old.  Old  Splendor, 
767,  A.  H.  B.,  bred  by  Mr.  Weddle,  in  Western  New  York,  got  calves 
after  sixteen,  and  died  when  seventeen  years  old.  Renick,  903, 
A.  H.  B.,  bred  by  James  Renick,  in  Kentucky,  got  calves  at  fourteen 
years  old,  and  died  soon  after,  while  yet  apparently  vigorous.  Baron 
of  Oxford,  2525,  A.  H.  B.,  bred  by  Mr.  Thome,  of  Thorndale,  N.  Y., 
died  at  fifteen  years  from  the  effects  of  an  accident  by  a  fall  on  slip- 
pery ice  when  in  the  act  of  serving  a  cow — useful  to  the  last. 

Among  the  aged  cows  may  be  named  "  Duchess,  by  Daisy  bull," 
bred  by  Charles  Colling,  in  England,  who,  after  many  years  of  suc- 
cessful breeding,  made  an  excellent  carcass  of  beef  at  seventeen 
years.  Many  other  cows  of  English  breeding  attained  the  age  of 
fifteen  to  upwards  of  twenty  years.  Among  the  American  cows,  one 
belonging  to  Mr.  John  G.  Dun,  of  London,  Ohio,  the  name  not 
recollected,  had  a  calf,  at  seventeen  years.  Imported  Young  Mary, 
by  Jupiter  (2170),  owned  in  Kentucky,  bred  fourteen  heifer  calves — 
and  one  bull — and  died  at  twenty-one  years.  This  is  the  most  remark- 
able instance  of  heifer  breeding  within  our  knowledge,  and  more 
Herd  Book  pedigrees  run  into  Young  Mary  than  any  other  half 
dozen  cows  of  record.  Mr.  Dun's  cow  Florida,  by  Comet,  356 
(1854),  brought  her  last  calf  at  eighteen  years,  and  nursed  and  reared 
it.  The  Kentucky  cow,  Catherine  Turley,  by  Goldfinder  (2066), 
lived  until  eighteen  years  old;  she  was  then  fed  off  for  the  butcher, 
and  when  slaughtered  was  found  to  be  in  calf.  A  well-bred  cow  of 
the  Union  Village  Shakers,  Warren  county,  Ohio,  brought  a  living 
heifer  calf  after  she  was  twenty-one  years  old.  But  it  is  useless  to 
multiply  instances  of  great  longevity.  We  have  related  these  from 
many  others  which  might  be  named,  had  we  opportunity  to  look  them 
up  and  record  them. 

All  the  Short-horns  need  is  a  sufficiency  of  proper  food — not  forc- 
ing— and  sensible  treatment  in  the  way  of  shelter  and  care  to  prove 
them  the  equals,  if  not  superiors,  in  fertility  and  longevity,  of  any 
others  of  the  bovine  race. 


218  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


THE  COLORS  OF  SHORT-HORN  NOSES. 

In  the  earlier  history  of  them  we  find  that  cloudy,  smoky,  or  even 
black  noses  in  the  Short-horns  were  frequent,  and  some  of  the  more 
distinguished  breeders  had  more  or  less  of  them  among  their  best  ani- 
mals. But  so  far  as  we  can  discover  they  were  never  fashionable; 
on  the  other  hand  they  were  objectionable,  as  a  matter  of  taste,  at 
least.  Yet  withal,  dark  noses  were  inherent  in  the  race,  cropping  out, 
now  and  then,  in  almost  every  herd,  even  to  the  present  day,  and 
only  by  the  most  careful  weeding  out  of  the  dark-nosed  young  breed- 
ing animals  as  they  occurred,  have  the  orange  or  drab  noses  become 
the  rule,  and  dark  the  exception. 

Some  critical  people  have  asserted  that  a  dark  nose  is  indicative 
of  impure  blood ;  that  it  came  in  with  the  Colling  cross  of  the  Gal- 
loway cow;  others  that  stealthy  crosses  of  the  West  Highland,  or 
other  outside  cattle  introduced  it,  but  no  proof  exists  of  either,  and 
the  question  may  as  well  at  once  be  yielded  that  the  dark  nose  is 
inherent  in  the  Short-horn  race.  We  do  not  advocate  a  dark  nose, 
either  in  full,  or  cloudy,  or  in  streaks,  or  spots,  yet  we  have  seen  many 
Short-horns  with  unimpeachable  pedigrees,  and  descended  from  herds 
long  distinguished  for  their  superior  quality,  which  had  either  dark  or 
cloudy  noses.  Nor  have  we  ever  known  that  the  color  of  the  nose  at 
all  governed  the  otherwise  essential  good  qualities  of  the  animal ; 
yet  so  long  as  a  good  bull  or  cow  can  be  found  with  an  orange,  drab, 
or  brownish  nut-colored  nose,  of  equally  good  quality  otherwise,  we 
would  not  breed  from  a  dark-nosed  one — more  from  the  unpopularity 
of  the  color  than  any  other  exceptional  bad  quality  the  creature  might 
possess. 

To  make  our  position  good  in  the  way  of  an  occasional  dark  nose 
cropping  out :  We  once  had  a  choice  Short-horn  cow,  with  a  perfect 
orange  nose,  which  we  bred  to  a  pure  Devon  bull,  with  an  equally 
good  nose  as  the  heifer,  and  the  produce  was  a  red  roan  calf  with  a 
jet  black  nose,  which  a  well-bred  Devon  never  has.  The  black  nose 
of  the  calf  in  question  came  from  the  Short-horn  blood,  not  the 
Devon.  A  pure  Short-horn  nose  of  any  shade  between  a  ^^/-brown, 
or  deep  drab,  running  up  to  a  yellow,  may  be  classed  as  unexception- 
able in  that  particular.  It  is  so  in  England.  A  light  ^<?^-colored 
nose  is  equally  objectionable  as  a  dark  one,  being  usually  accompa- 
nied with  a  lighter  colored  skin,  and  sometimes  a  delicacy  in  physical 
form  or  constitution,  (although  not  always  so,)  beyond  those  animals 


COLORS    OF    SHORT-HORNS.  219 

with  noses  of  a  deeper  color,  either  orange,  drab,  nut-colored,  or 
cloudy. 

For  grade  breeding,  that  is,  for  beef  or  dairy  purposes,  (and  for  the 
most  progressive  purposes  of  working  up  toward  the  pure  blood,)  a 
grade  bull  should  never  be  used,  when  a  thorough-bred  one  can  be 
obtained;  provided  the  bull  be  otherwise  good,  if  he  have  a  dark 
nose  it  need  not  be  objected  to.  No  matter  what  the  color  of  the 
nose,  the  cow  will  milk  as  well,  and  the  steer  feed  as  profitably  as  if 
that  feature  in  them  were  the  height  of  perfection. 

BODILY  COLORS  OF  SHORT-HORNS. 

The  legitimate  colors  of  the  race,  from  their  earliest  history,  have 
been  red,  in  its  different  shades,  and  pure  white,  either  one  prevailing 
to  greater  or  less  extent  over  {he  entire  body,  or  spreading  in  various 
proportions  of  each  in  distinct  patches,  or  the  promiscuous  interming- 
ling of  both  into  either  a  light  or  red  roan,  as  accident  might  govern, 
giving  the  animal  a  picturesque  and  agreeable  appearance  to  the  eye 
of  the  spectator.  The  lighter  shades  of  red  are  termed  "yellow- 
red,"  which,  among  the  earlier  animals,  occasionally  run  into  a  pale 
dun,  or  drab,  mingling  with  white,  as  with  the  deeper  reds;  but 
within  the  last  fifty  years  the  dun  or  drab  hues  have  mostly  disap- 
peared and  become  unfashionable,  the  full  reds  of  lighter  or  deeper 
shades  having  the  preference.  Still,  the  light  dun  or  drab  may  occa- 
sionally crop  out  in  a  calf  of  perfect  pedigree  without  prejudice  to 
its  blood  or  lineage. 

Fifty  years  ago  a  preponderance  of  white,  and  less  of  red,  was  the 
usual  color,  and  in  many  distinguished  animals  pure  white  was  equally 
acceptable  as  red,  red  and  white,  or  roan,  with  the  best  breeders.  In 
fact,  we  cannot  discover  that  so  late  as  twenty  years  ago  objection 
was  made  to  a  good  animal  solely  on  account  of  color,  either  red,  in 
any  of  its  different  shades,  or  their  intermixtures  with  white,  or  the 
pure  white  itself.  It  has  been  so  in  England  from  the  earliest  days 
down  to  the  present  time.  Any  shade,  in  fact,  from  the  deepest  to  the 
lightest  in  the  reds,  to  pure  white,  and  their  mixtures,  are  legitimate 
Short-horn  colors,  and  any  choice  in  preference  to  more  or  less  of 
these  prevailing  in  the  animal,  is  simply  a  matter  of  taste  with  the 
breeder  or  owner. 

There  has,  of  late  years,  however,  grown  up  in  the  United  States  a 
fashion  in  colors,  red  being  the  choice,  and  deep  red  the  prevailing 
choice.  This  fashion,  we  believe,  has  been  mainly  induced  by  the 


220  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

increasing  popularity  of  the  "  Bates  "  blood,  they  having  more  of  it 
than  almost  any  other  distinct  family  tribe ;  for  we  do  not  recognize 
it  as  predominating  in  any  other  tribes  belonging  to  the  different 
English,  Scotch,  or  Irish  breeders.  Thirty  years  ago  we  seldom  saw 
a  purely  red  Short-horn,  and  not  many  where  the  red  much  overrun 
the  white.  Red  and  white,  and  the  roans,  were  the  most  common, 
and  pure  white  was  more  popular  than  a  full  red.  In  fact,  the  roans 
were  the  most  fashionable,  and  more  preferred  than  any  other  where 
a  preference  for  color  prevailed  at  all.  Some  of  the  best  bulls  and 
cows  ever  imported  into  the  country  were  pure  white,  so  late  as 
twenty  years  ago,  while  now  either  at  public  or  private  sale  a  white, 
or  even  a  light  roan  bull,  unless  of  distinguished  blood,  will  sell  for 
a  much  less  price  than  a  full  red  or  red  roan  of  equal  quality,  even 
when  discriminating  breeders  in  the  more  substantial  qualities  are 
the  purchasers. 

In  this  partiality  or  prejudice — for  we  cannot  call  it  any  other — in 
the  United  States,  we  cannot  but  think  it  an  absurd  distinction  so  far 
as  the  true  merits  of  the  animal  are  concerned.  A  purely  red  cow 
may  be  bred  to  a  purely  red  bull,  and  a  white  or  roan  calf  may  be 
the  produce,  as  is  sometimes  seen ;  or,  a  bull  and  cow  of  any  other 
legitimate  shades,  white,  roan,  or  of  distinctly  patched  colors  may  be 
coupled,  and  grades  of  color  common  to  neither  parent  may  be  pro- 
duced in  the  calf.  In  fact,  color  in  Short-horns  is  not  controllable, 
or  but  partially  so,  except  as  through  a  persistent  course  of  breeding 
to  certain  colored  bulls,  on  the  rule  that  "like  begets  like,"  will  the 
produce  inherit  the  shades  belonging  to  the  parents,  and  then  not 
uniformly.  Therefore  we  say,  other  qualities  being  equal,  one  color 
is  just  as  good  as  another,  no  better,  no  worse.  Still,  fashion  may 
rule  for  a  time  among  breeders,  as  the  color  of  a  person's  dress  may  rule 
in  the  fashionable  world  of  people,  to  be  discarded  at  the  next  freak 
of  fancy  or  taste,  as  those  who  invent  them  may  dictate. 

Let  us  illustrate  :  The  Collings  always  bred  many  more  pure  whites 
than/&r<?  reds,  (seldom  did  they  breed  one  of  the  latter,)  while  roans 
of  different  shades  were  their  prevailing  colors.  So  also  with  other 
of  the  leading  breeders  of  England  from  time  immemorial.  The 
Booths  bred  without  regard  to  a  choice  of  color ;  so  that  their  cattle 
were  good,  color  was  a  minor  object.  They  seldom  had  a  red  ani- 
mal, but  chiefly  roans  and  whites.  In  Mr.  Bates'  early  Duchess  stock 
the  red  color  prevailed,  and  it  has  through  their  close  interbreeding, 
although  since  crossed  by  roan  bulls,  still  held  its  own  in  their 
descendants.  The  importations  into  the  United  States  from  the 


COLORS    OF    SHORT-HORNS.  221 

earliest  date  to  1857,  werd  chiefly  roans,  red  and  whites,  and  whites, 
the  reds  being  little  cared  for,  but  rather  objected  to,  until  the  Bates 
Duchess  blood  became  in  demand.  Previous  to  the  Bates  arrivals 
reds  were  decidedly  w/zfashionable,  some  breeders  carrying  their 
prejudices  against  a  full  red  so  far  as  to  declare  such  colors  indica- 
tive of  impure  blood  and  bad  breeding ! 

We  incline  to  the  opinion  that  not  many  years  will  transpire  before 
good  judges  of  Short-horns  will  look  more  closely  to  quality  than 
color,  convinced  as  we  are  that  a  fashion  existing  solely  on  prejudice 
or  partiality,  cannot  be  permanent. 


222  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER     XI. 

EXPORTATION  OF  AMERICAN  SHORT-HORNS  TO  ENGLAND  AND 

SCOTLAND. 

AFTER  the  long  series  of  purchases  by  American  breeders  from 
the  British  herds  which  have  been  enumerated,  it  is  an  interesting 
item  to  record  the  progress  of  the  back  tidal  wave  of  purchases  from 
our  own  American  herds  by  English  breeders,  which  have  been  taken 
to  the  land  of  their  origin  to  re-unite  their  possibly  superior  qualities 
with  the  long-cherished  blood  of  their  ancestors,  an  event  which  has 
been  regarded  among  the  British  breeders  as  of  novel  and  especial 
interest. 

Fifty  years  ago,  or  more,  a  pungent  writer  of  critiques  in  one  of 
the  British  Reviews  opened  his  article  upon  an  American  author  with 
the  sneering  question  :  "  Who  reads  an  American  book  ?  "  But  at 
the  present  day  American  books  have  become  a  welcome  commodity 
in  the  British  market,  and  receive  an  admiration  and  respect  equal 
to  those  of  its  own  most  favored  authors. 

Forty  years  afterwards,  although  the  Americans  had  long  been 
purchasers  of  English  Short-horns,  the  question  might  have  been  as 
contemptuously  asked  by  the  English  breeders :  "  Who  buys  an 
American  Short-horn  ?  "  For  many  years  our  American  breeders  had 
visited  Great  Britain,  and  carefully  selected  and  purchased  many 
choice  animals  from  the  most  costly  and  fashionable  herds,  which 
they  transferred  onto  their  own  American  farms,  and  bred  with  a 
care  and  skill  equal  to  any  which  had  been  bestowed  upon  them  in 
the  land  of  their  nativity.  It  was  afterwards  discovered  that  much 
of  the  best  blood  of  their  cherished  herds  had  crossed  the  Atlantic, 
and  not  to  be  regained  except  by  going  to  America  to  re-purchase 
and  import  it  back  at  much  higher  prices  than  those  for  which  they 
had  originally  sold  them.  But  the  blood  they  must  have,  whatever 
might  be  the  cost,  and  they  wisely  set  about  regaining  it. 

In  a  letter  to  us  of  June  12,  1871,  Mr.  Samuel  Thorne,  of  New 
York,  thus  writes:  "During  a  visit  to  England  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
I  was  eagerly  sought  after  for  '  Duke '  and  *  Oxford '  bulls,  and  in 


EXPORTATION    OF    AMERICAN    SHORT-HORNS.     223 

May  of  that  year  I  sent  over  the  bull  '  Our  American  Cousin,'  by 
imported  Neptune,  1917,  out  of  imported  Lalla  Rookh,  sold  to  me  by 
F.  W.  Welch,  of  Ireland.  A  short  time  after  I  sent  over  the  bulls 
3d  Duke  of  Thorndale,  2789  (roan),  4th  Duke  of  Thorndale,  2790 
(roan),  5th  Duke  of  Thorndale,  3488  (white),  Imperial  Oxford,  4905 
(red) ;  also  the  heifer  4th  Lady  of  Oxford,  which  afterwards  became 
celebrated  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  cows  in  England,  both  as 
a  show  animal  and  breeder.  The  bull  5th  Duke  of  Thorndale,  sick- 
ened on  the  voyage,  and  died  in  Queenstown  harbor,  Ireland,  before 
reaching  England.  On  their  arrival  in  England  they  were  sold  at 
prices  varying  from  300  to  400  guineas  each,  in  gold  coin.  In  the 
following  year,  1862, 1  sent  out  to  England  Lord  Oxford,  3091  (roan), 
2d  Lord  Oxford  [not  recorded  in  A.  H.  B.],  Bishop  of  Oxford  [not 
recorded  in  A.  H.  B.],  and  Duke  of  Geneva,  3858  (roan).  The  latter 
shipment  arrived  in  England  safely,  and  sold  for  250  to  600  guineas 
each,  in  gold,  amounting  to  "a  considerable  larger  sum  in  our  own 
currency." 

Soon  afterwards  Mr.  Ezra  Cornell,  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  sold  to  go  to 
England,  the  young  bull  3d  Lord  of  Oxford,  4958,  bred  by  Mr.  Thorne, 
of  whom  Mr.  Cornell  had  sometime  previously  purchased  him.  He 
sold  for  $3,000  in  gold,  which,  with  the  premium  added  swelled  the 
sum  to  a  much  larger  amount  in  our  currency. 

About  the  same  time  Mr.  R.  A.  Alexander,  of  Kentucky,  sent  out 
to  England  a  few  animals  of  choice  blood  of  .the  Airdrie  (Bates' 
Duchess)  tribe,  and  possibly  another  animal  or  two,  the  names  of 
which  we  have  not  been  able  to  learn,  nor  the  result  of  their  sales. 

In  August,  1867,  Mr.  John  R.  Page  took  out  for  Mr.  J.  O.  Sheldon, 
of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  eight  young  animals,  consisting  of  the  roan  bull 
3d  Duke  of  Geneva,  5563,  which  sold  for  550  guineas,  and  the  heif- 
ers 7th  Duchess  of  Geneva  (white),  sold  at  700  guineas,  together  with 
4th  Maid  of  Oxford  (red),  Countess  of  Oxford  (white),  6th  Maid  of 
Oxford  (roan),  7th  Maid  of  Oxford  (roan),  8th  Maid  of  Oxford  (roan), 
and  5th  Maid  of  Oxford  (white).  For  the  six  Oxfords  he  obtained 
2,050  guineas,  an  average  of  $2,293  each.  The  entire  sale  amounted 
to  3,300  guineas=$i7,325,  or  an  average  for  the  lot  of  $2,615.50  each, 
which,  together  with  the  premium  on  the  gold  received  for  them,  not 
less  than  20  to  25  per  cent,  above  American  currency  at  the  time, 
made  the  handsome  sum  of  nearly  or  quite  $20,000  for  eight  animals, 
less  the  expense  of  exportation. 

In  the  year  1870,  Mr.  Sheldon  also  sold,  to  be  delivered  on  ship- 
board in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  red  roan  bull  calf  8th  Duke  of 


224  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Geneva,  7935,  to  Messrs.  Howard  and  Downing,  in  England,  for  800 
guineas,  and  to  Mr.  Cheney,  also  in  England,  the  (red)  heifers  nth 
Duchess  of  Geneva,  and  (red  roan)  i3th  Duchess  of  Geneva,  at  1,000 
guineas  each,  in  gold  coin.  They  were  taken  on  board  ship  and 
arrived  safely  at  their  destination. 

In  April,  1871,  Mr.  M.  H.  Cochrane,  Compton,  Province  Quebec, 
sold  to  Earl  of  Dunmore,  in  Scotland,  the  cow  nth  Lady  of  Oxford, 
by  i4th  Duke  of  Thorndale,  8031,  for  750  guineas;  and  to  Colonel 
Kingscote,  of  England,  the  red  bull  Duke  of  Hillhurst,  9862,  at  eleven 
months  old,  for  800  guineas.  Both  these  animals  were  delivered  at 
Portland,  Me.,  the  freight  and  charges  to  be  paid  by  the  purchasers. 

In  November  following,  Mr.  Cochrane  also  sold  to  Earl  of  Dun- 
more  the  following  heifers :  Duchess  of  Hillhurst  (white),  and  2d 
Duchess  of  Hillhurst  (roan),  at  about  a  year  old,  each  (both  got  by 
8th  Duke  of  York,  11867,  out  of  imported  Duchesses  io3d  and 
icist),  for  2,500  guineas;  also  the  cow  8th  Maid  of  Oxford  and  her 
heifer  calf,  for  1,300  guineas;  also  two  cows  and  their  two  heifer 
calves,  purchased  by  Mr.  Cochrane,  in  Kentucky,  for  which  he  re- 
ceived 500  guineas.  This  lot,  like  the  previous  one,  was  delivered 
at  Portland,  subject  to  the  exportation  charges.  The  whole  ten  ani- 
mals of  these  two  exportations  netted  Mr.  Cochrane  the  sum  of  5,850 
guineas,  or  about  $30,712  American  currency. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1871,  Messrs.  Walcott  and  Campbell,  of  New 
York  Mills,  Oneida  county,  N.  Y.,  sold  to  Lord  Skelmerdale,  Eng- 
land, the  young  red  bull,  ist  Duke  of  Oneida,  9925,  for  850  guineas, 
at  eighteen  months  old;  and  with  him  also  went  out  the  red  bull  5th 
Lord  Oxford,  10382,  fifteen  months  old,  to  another  party  there;  also 
to  Mr.  Cheney  the  roan  heifer  9th  Maid  of  Oxford  (two  years  old), 
by  loth  Duke  of  Thorndale,  5610;  red  cow  loth  Lady  of  Oxford 
(four  years  old),  by  loth  Duke  of  Thorndale,  5610;  and  roan  heifer 
i3th  Lady  of  Oxford  (nine  months  old),  by  Baron  of  Oxford,  2525, 
all  at  about  the  average  prices  of  Mr.  Sheldon's  sale. 

The  above  are  the  last  sales  to  go  abroad  of  which  we  have  a 
detailed  account  up  to  the  year  1872 ;  and  most  gratifying  they  must 
prove,  in  the  acknowledgment  by  some  of  the  most  enterprising  breed- 
ers of  Great  Britain  to  the  excellence  and  value  of  American-bred 
Short-horns. 


THE    EARLIER    SHORT-HORNS.  225 


THE  STYLE,  FIGURE  AND  QUALITY,  WHICH  SHOULD  REPRESENT  A 
PERFECT  SHORT-HORN. 

To  demonstrate  this  we  should,  perhaps,  have  a  portrait,  model, 
or  diagram  of  the  animal  we  purpose  to  describe ;  but  such  an  one 
is  difficult  to  obtain,  and  could  we  obtain  it,  objection  might  be  made 
that  it  represented  a  particular  animal,  of  certain  blood  or  breeding, 
whose  conspicuity  in  a  work  of  this  character  might  show  partiality 
in  us,  the  imputation  of  which  we  wish  to  avoid.  We  shall,  there- 
fore, speak  of  what  should  be,  rather  than  what  is  in  any  animal  with 
which  we  are  familiar.  We  have  occasionally  seen  a  Short-horn 
which  we  considered  almost,  if  not  quite,  perfect.  We  have  recited 
the  histories  of  some  which  -seemed  almost  perfect  in  the  eyes  of 
judges  of  them  in  the  days  of  the  earlier  breeders — the  Maynards, 
Wetherels,  Collings,  Booths,  Mason,  and  their  contemporaries,  as  well 
as  to  others  now  living.  But  they  were  not  altogether  so,  as  some 
deficient  points  in  them  have  been  detected.  Nor  do  we  think 
their  standard  of  perfection  was  then  so  high  as  it  is  at  the  present 
time.  We  believe  the  standard  of  excellence  has  improved  within 
the  last  seventy  years,  and  that  the  average  quality  of  well-bred  Short- 
horns is  higher  now  than  in  the  years  1800  to  1830,  although  many 
animals  of  surpassing  excellence,  and  known  by  name,  existed  in 
those  days,  as  we  have  seen  by  portraits  and  descriptions  of  them. 

The  mass  of  the  old  Short-horns,  as  we  have  seen,  were  faulty — 
coarse,  many  of  them,  sleazily  made  up,  too  prominent  in  bone,  hard 
in  the  handling,  lacking  flesh  in  the  most  valuable  parts  of  the  car- 
cass, and  having  too  much  offal  for  their  net  weight.  Their  shoulders 
stood  too  far  forward,  were  too  upright  and  open  at  the  tops ;  their 
fore  ribs  were  too  flat,  with  too  little  flesh  on  their  crops,  those  points 
being  hollow,  or  concave,  leaving  neither  roasts  nor  steaks  upon  them. 
That  was,  perhaps,  their  greatest  fault,  and  the  most  difficult  to  over- 
come. There  were  other  deficiencies  which  have  been  already  enu- 
merated and  need  not  be  repeated.  Yet  the  cows  were  generally 
great  milkers,  and  great  milkers  even  at  the  present  day  are  more 
apt  to  fail  in  those  points  than  in  almost  any  others.  The  reader 
will  understand  that  we  now  speak  of  the  Short-horns  of  some  cen- 
turies ago,  before  their  breeders  had  discovered  the  capabilities  of  the 
race" in  the  extent  of  improvement  to  which  they  have  since  attained. 
15 


226  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

But  good  breeding  has  corrected  most  of  these,  and  we  now  see 
large  numbers  of  Short-horns  existing  in  the  peerless  symmetry  which 
in  early  days  were  not  common  to  their  race. 

To  the  point,  then :  WHAT  is  a  perfect  Short-horn  ? 

We  propose  to  dissect  and  analyze  the  creature  from  the  point  of 
its  nose  to  the  brush  of  its  tail.  In  this  we  are  aware  that  we  may 
run  against  both  tastes  and  prejudices,  as  well  as  fashions ;  but  tastes, 
prejudices  and  fashions,  are  all  more  or  less  arbitrary,  the  results  of 
education,  and  sometimes  absurd  when  running  again  &  practical  excel- 
lence, or  true  merit,  in  almost  any  subject.  We  propose  to  speak  of 
merit  mainly,  and  permit  the  reader  to  interpose  his  own  ideas  of 
taste  or  fashion,  as  they  may  occur. 

The  muzzle :  This  should  be  fine,  with  a  wide,  open  nostril ;  a 
large,  but  not  coarse  mouth  beneath  it,  thin  lips,  light,  fine  under  jaw, 
devoid  of  flesh,  except  a  slight  pendulous  skin  underneath.  The 
color  of  the  nose  yellow,  orange,  or  a  nutty  drab.  (The  colors  of 
the  nose  are  elsewhere  discussed.) 

The  head :  Should  be  well-proportioned  in  length,  breadth,  and 
general  symmetry ;  rather  shorter  in  the  bull  and  longer  in  the  cow, 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal  of  either  sex.  The  cheeks 
should  be  lean,  and  destitute  of  much  flesh,  giving  them  a  neat,  airy 
appearance.  The  forehead  broad,  gracefully  narrowing  along  the 
face  -towards  the  muzzle;  the  face  slightly  concave  —  not  dished, 
(like  an  Alderny,)  but  a  true  Short-horn  face  of  elegant  and  stylish 
bearing.  The  hair  in  the  forehead  of  a  bull  may  be  either  straight, 
or  curly,  without  prejudice  either  way.  The  eye  should  be  promi- 
nent and  large,  encircled  by  a  broad  orange  ring,  clear  of  hair,  or 
the  hair  growing  upon  it  short,  and  running  gradually  out  into  the 
face  and  cheeks  at  a  brief  distance.  The  expression  of  the  eye 
should  be  mild  and  gentle,  indicating  kindness  of  disposition.  A 
sullen  or  deep-set  eye,  is  more  or  less  indicative  of  bad  temper,  and 
intractable  nature.  The  style  and  expression  of  the  eye  we  consider 
an  important  feature  of  the  animal  in  its  qualities  of  perfection. 

The  horn :  As  a  rule,  should  be  light,  although  a  heavy  one  is  not 
particularly  objectionable,  as  it  is  of  no  use  other  than  indicating  the 
character  of  the  race.  The  bases  should  stand  wide  on  each  side  at 
the  top  of  the  skull,  and  bend  gracefully  forward  in  an  outward  curve, 
and  may  then  incline  downward  or  upward,  either  way  without 
prejudice  to  the  main  qualities  of  the  beast.  They  should  be  oval  in 
shape  at  the  base,  and  so  continue  some  distance  from  the  head ;  of 
waxy  or  neutral  tint,  inclining,  if  not  strictly  of  the  waxy  character, 


A    PERFECT    SHORT-HORN.  22/ 

to  a  creamy,  rather  than  a  white  shade,  and  no  dark  tint  or  black 
except  at  the  tips,  and  even  there  the  less  of  either  the  better.  The 
horns  of  some  of  the  best  animals  sometimes  take  an  upright  form ; 
others  a  backward  and  downward  curve,  which  need  not  be  objected 
to  if  the  creature  be  otherwise  unobjectionable.  But  a  perfect  horn, 
in  either  bull  or  cow,  should  have  a  graceful,  outward  spread,  inclin- 
ing gently  downward  or  upward  at  the  sides  and  front,  small  and  fine. 

The  ear :  Should  be  upright,  large,  and  thin,  well  covered  inside 
and  out,  with  long,  fine  hair,  and  flexible  in  movement.  It  is  not  an 
important  feature,  and  only  noticeable  in  adding  grace  and  beauty  to 
the  general  features  of  the  head.  The  head  of  a  Short-horn  gives 
the  animal  much  of  its  character  for  grace  and  comeliness,  if  not  of 
general  excellence,  although  we  have  known  many  of  superlative 
quality  in  every  other  particular,  with  plain  heads — that  being  the 
only  objectionable  point.  The  Booth  heads  are  inclined  to  be  quite 
straight  in  the  face,  from  forehead  to  muzzle — so  much  so  as  some- 
times to  give  the  heifers  a  steery  appearance.  This,  however,  is  a 
matter  of  taste  only,  yet  more  common  in  the  Booth  stock  than  in 
the  herds  of  most  other  breeders. 

The  neck :  Should  be  strong  and  well  set,  of  a  graceful  oval 
shape  adjoining  the  head,  running  backward  on  a  level,  in  the  cow, 
and  with  a  gradually  rising  crest  in  the  bull,  deepening  and  widening 
as  it  approaches  the  bosom,  where  it  should  connect  in  a  smooth 
expansion,  so  that  it  can  hardly  be  seen  where  the  neck  terminates 
or  the  bosom  begins.  The  neck  should  be  free  from  hanging  skin  or 
dewlap. 

The  chest :  This  most  important  feature,  from  which  spring  the 
brisket,  shoulders,  and  fore  ribs,  should  be  deep,  broad,  and  full,  indi- 
cating robustness  and  good  constitution. 

The  brisket :  Set  prominently  forward,  nearly  perpendicular  in 
front,  broad,  and  well  let  down,  or  even  slightly  projecting,  towards 
the  bottom,  with  a  thin,  pendulous  skin  underneath,  indicating  an 
elasticity  of  the  flesh  inclosed  within  it. 

The  shoulders :  Should  be  broad  and  even  at  the  tops,  working 
backward  into  a  level  with  the  chine  in  the  rear,  on  a  direct  line,  mod- 
erately upright,  spreading  outward  as  they  descend  from  the  top  of 
the  chest,  smooth  at  the  forward  points,  and  thence  sloping  gracefully 
and  tapering  symmetrically  into  the  fore  legs  above  the  knees.  The 
knees  should  be  round,  muscular,  and  stand  well  apart ;  the  legs 
below  fine-boned,  and  terminating  in  hoofs  of  proportionate  size, 
waxy,  brindled  or  dark  brown  in  color. 


228  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

The  fore  ribs :  Springing  in  a  well-rounded  arch  from  the  spine, 
should  be  well  expanded,  long,  and  deep,  giving  abundant  space  for 
the  well-sized  heart  and  lungs  to  play,  and  develop  what  some  may 
term  the  "  fore  flank  "  at  the  floor  of  the  chest  or  sternum,  into  full 
breadth  and  levelness  with  the  belly. 

The  crops,  or  spaces  behind  the  shoulders :  These  should  be  full,  per- 
fected mainly  by  a  sufficient  springing  outward  of  the  fore  ribs  from 
the  chine,  with  a  full  coating  of  flesh  upon  them.  The  crops  in  the 
older  Short-horns  were  one  of  their  most  deficient  points,  but  by 
skillful  breeding  they  have  been  improved  to  such  extent  that  they 
are  now,  in  many  animals,  of  remarkable  excellence,  and  when  so 
developed  as  to  yield  acceptable  steaks  and  roasting  pieces,  add  much 
to  the  selling  as  well  as  consumable  values  of  the  beast.  In  fact,  no 
perfect  Short-horn  will  show  a  depression  behind  the  shoulders,  but 
let  a  carpenter's  straight-edge  touch  the  entire  space  on  a  line  from 
the  shoulders  to  the  after  ribs  adjoining  them. 

The  spine,  or  back  bone,  by  whichever  name  it  may  be  called : 
Should  run  on  an  even  level  line  from  the  chine  to  the  setting  on  of 
the  tail,  although  in  some  of  the  choicest  animals  a  slightly  depressed 
notch  is  permitted  at  the  connection  of  the  spine  with  the  tail. 

The  loin :  Broad,  full,  and  level  with  the  spine  and  hips — for 
there  the  choicest  flesh  usually  lies,  adding  much  to  the  weight  and 
value  of  the  carcass. 

The  hips :  Wide  spread,  smooth,  and  on  a  level  with  the  spine — 
not  falling  off  and  tapering  downwards  to  cause  a  contraction  of  the 
ribs  and  belly  forward.  Drooping  hips  are  apt  to  be  narrow,  with  a 
"  cloddy  buttock "  in  the  rear,  giving  tough  and  lean  meat  of  little 
value. 

The  rumps :  Long,  full,  broad  and  level,  narrowing  gracefully 
from  the  hips  to  the  pin-bones,  or  points  of  the  rumps,  which  latter 
should  be  wide  apart,  giving  a  proportional  symmetry  to  either  sex, 
and  a  great  advantage  and  convenience  to  the  cow  in  parturition. 

The  tail :  Well  and  strongly  connected  with  the  spine  on  a  straight 
line,  small,  and  tapering  gradually  to  the  brush,  which  should  be 
clothed  with  a  full  tuft  of  long  hair. 

The  hinder  ribs :  These  should  spring  roundly  from  the  spine, 
long,  deep,  and  well  set  back  towards  the  hips,  holding  the  belly  up 
level,  as  near  as  may  be  with  the  floor  of  the  chest,  and  by  their 
breadth,  giving  abundant  room  for  the  viscera  or  bowels  to  play,  and 
in  the  cow  to  spread  sufficiently  for  the  growth  of  the  foetus,  while 
breeding. 


A    PERFECT    SHORT-HORN. 


229 


The  flank :  Should  be  full  and  low,  on  a  line  with  the  belly  and 
thighs,  the  skin  loosely  developed  to  fill  with  fatty  flesh  when  perfected 
for  slaughter. 

The  udder — in  the  cow :  Should  be  broad,  square,  and  set  well 
forward,  with  fine,  thin  hair,  wide  between  the  teats,  which  should  be 
placed  well  apart,  of  medium  size  and  length,  and  gently  tapering. 

The  testicles  of  the  bull :  Should  be  full  for  his  age,  equal  in 
size — as  near  as  may  be — and  lightly  haired. 

sThe  thighs :  Should  drop  perpendicularly  from  the  pin-bones  or 
points  of  the  rumps,  broad  on  the  upper  sides,  and  full  throughout, 
the  flesh  running  well  down  towards  the  hocks  in  the  bulls.  In  the 
cows,  from  the  rump-points  downward  the  backward  slope  of  the 
thighs  may  retreat  forward  and  be  thinner  than  in  the  bulls,  as  is  the 
wont  of  her  sex.  Still,  they  should  be  muscular  and  strong. 

The  hind  legs:  Straight, -like  those  of  the  horse,  standing  well 
apart,  with  a  strong  muscular  hock,  tapering  into  a  fine-boned,  flat 
leg  below,  and  ending  in  a  well-spread,  compact  hoof,  of  color  like 
the  forward  ones. 

The  twist,  or  space  above  the  junction  of  the  thighs :  Should  be 
broad,  full,  and  clothed  with  a  soft,  silky  hair  in  either  sex.  In  cows 
used  for  dairy  purposes  some  importance  has  been  given  to  the 
"  escutcheon,"  according  to  Guenon's  theory  (the  hair  running  both 
inversely  and  transversely  far  upward  and  outward  on  the  thighs, 
indicating  high  milking  qualities) ;  but  we  consider  that  of  minor 
consequence,  as  experience  has  not  given  anything  more  than  a 
doubtful  belief  in  its  certainty  of  application.  It  relates  to  the  lacteal 
tendency  of  the  cow  only,  and  needs  no  further  discussion  here. 

The  hair :  Should  be  close,  long  and  soft,  furnishing  a  warm  win- 
ter covering.  It  will  be  short  enough  in  the  warm  season,  as  nature 
provides  for  the  changing  temperatures. 

The  touch,  or  handling  quality :  Should  be  elastic,  mellow  (not 
flabby),  and  springing  under  pressure  of  the  fingers  like  a  light  India 
rubber  ball.  Good  handling  is  one  of  the  best  points  in  a  Short- 
horn. 

The  skin :  Moderately  thick,  strong,  and  loose,  easily  moving  by 
action  of  the  hand  upon  it,  and  showing  plenty  of  cellular  tissue 
underneath. 

The  above  qualities  have  been  generally  accepted  by  experienced 
and  skillful  Short-horn  breeders  to  constitute  the  necessary  points  of 
a  perfect  specimen  of  the  race. 


2JO  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

PURE  SHORT-HORNS — HERD  BOOKS — PEDIGREES. 

THE  subjects  embraced  in  this  chapter  are,  of  necessity,  more  or 
less  debateable;  still  we  shall  strive  to  treat  them  with  truth,  and 
fairness. 

The  question  may  very  properly  first  be  asked :  What  is  a  "thor- 
ough-bred or  pure-blooded  "  Short-horn  ? 

The  simplest  and  most  obvious  answer  may  be :  An  animal  which 
traces  its  descent  through  a  line  of  ancestors,  on  both  sides  of  its 
parentage,  back  to  the  earliest  ages  in  Short-horn  history  or  the 
fountain-head  of  its  race,  whether  such  ancestry  be  recorded  in  the 
Herd  Books  or  not.  To  ascertain  such  fact  to  an  absolute  certainty, 
a  close  and  thorough  investigation  of  every  volume  (possibly)  of  the 
books,  both  English  and  American,  now  thirty  in  number,  and  con- 
taining over  seventy  thousand  pedigrees,  unless  other  positive  testi- 
mony is  at  hand,  must  be  made  in  order  to  settle  the  fact  of 
indisputable  purity  of  blood,  and  .even  then  it  cannot  unquestionably 
be  done,  as  our  previous  history  has  already  shown. 

The  question  of  purity  in  descent  is  a  broad  and  intricate  one. 
Numerous  commentators  and  critics  through  the  papers,  pamphlets, 
magazines  and  journals,  of  both  past  and  present  days,  have  from 
time  to  time  ventilated  their  opinions  upon  it,  and  arrived  at  widely 
different  conclusions,  each  one  for  himself,  and  apparently  satisfied  in 
his  own  correctness ;  yet  they  have  proved  nothing  beyond  what  the 
Herd  Books — and  they  but  imperfectly  either  investigated  or  under- 
stood— together  with  some  traditions  derived  from  the  old  breeders 
have  given  them.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  investigations  of  this 
subject  have,  from  the  beginning,  both  in  England  and  America, 
been  too  much  of  a  partisan  and  in  many  of  them  of  a  personal 
character,  as  well  as  exhibiting  a  prejudice  against,  or  partiality  for 
some  of  the  bloods  and  pedigrees  which  they  discussed. 

Our  history  in  the  foregoing  pages  has  related  as  definitely  as  could 
be  ascertained,  the  origin  of  the  Short-horn  race;  and  the  Herd 
Books  have  recorded  their  individual  progress  down  to  the  present 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    ENGLISH    HERD    BOOK.          231 

time,  through  the  pedigrees  which  they  contain ;  but  it  may  be  well 
to  understand  the  authority  on  which  those  pedigrees  were  based, 
and  for  that  a  history  of  the  foundation  of  the  English  Herd  Book 
should  be  related. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Short-horns  had  been  more  or  less  cultivated 
and  no  doubt  greatly  improved  through  some  past  centuries  in  the  coun- 
ties comprising  the  ancient  Northumbria,  previous  to  the  year  1730, 
and  we  have  some  few  records  of  animals  by  name,  from  that  time 
down  to  the  year  1780,  when,  through  the  intelligence  and  enterprise 
of  some  of  their  younger  breeders,  they  began  in  considerable  num- 
bers to  take  position  by  partial  pedigree,  as  well  as  name,  in  a  few 
individual  herds.  The  records  of  many  animals  were  kept  in  the 
private  notes  of  their  breeders,  in  some  instances ;  in  many  more 
instances  they  were  retained  only  in  the  memories  of  their  breeders, 
and  in  the  fallibility  of  those  memories  may  not  in  all  instances  have 
been  correct  in  certain  facts  of  blood  or  birth.  Yet,  such  were  the 
only  records,  and  they  were  not  reduced  to  a  permanent  shape  until 
the  year  1822,  when  the  first  volume  of  the  English  Herd  Book  was 
published;  thus  the  pedigrees  of  the  Short-horns. remained  either  in 
private  memoranda  or  tradition,  for  more  than  half  a  century  after 
some  of  them  had  acquired  individual  names,  and  reputations  as 
prominent  and  leading  animals  of  their  race.  Their  progress  and 
increasing  numbers  through  those  years  had  been  so  rapid,  and  the 
chances  of  error  in  perpetuating  their  lineage  were  so  many,  that  an 
imperative  necessity  compelled  their  breeders  to  place  them  in  a 
permanent  record. 

According  to  a  concise  and  well-considered  narrative,  published 
in  "The  Country  Gentleman"  under  date  of  July  27,  1871,  over  the 
signature  "S.,"  which  we  consider  competent  authority,  as  was  re- 
ceived by  the  writer  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  in  England,  from 
some  of  the  then  living  parties  who  had  been  active  in  the  proceed- 
ings, we  extract  as  follows : 

"  The  English  Short-horned  Herd  Book  was  originated  as  a  pro- 
ject some  years  before  its  publication.  Sir  Henry  Vane  Tempest,  a 
large  and  capital  breeder  of  Short-horns,  held  semi-annual  agricul- 
tural meetings  in  Wynyard  Park,  his  residence,  in  Durham  county, 
giving  prizes  for  horses,  cattle  and  sheep.  These  meetings,  like  those 
of  the  Durham  Agricultural  Society,  always  were  attended  by  the  lead- 
ing breeders  of  that  county  and  Yorkshire.  At  a  meeting  in  the  autumn 
of  1812,  there  were  present,  among  others,  Robert  and  Charles  Col- 
ling, Mrs.  Charles  Colling,  Mr.  Bates,  Col.  Trotter,  Messrs.  John  and 


232  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

George  Hutchinson,  Wetherell,  Baker  of  Ellmore,  Wright,  Stephenson, 
Hustler,  Raine,  Mr.  Booth  and  his  sons  John  and  Richard,  Maj.  Rudd, 
and  the  two  Coateses,  father  and  son.  Sir  Henry  was  a  breeder 
of  blood  horses,  and  he  suggested  to  the  company,  what  had  been 
before  arranged  between  him  and  Mr.  Coates,  the  publication  of  a 
record  for  Short-horns,  like  the  Stud  Book  for  horses.  The  view  was 
at  once  adopted.  All  the  gentlemen  named  were  breeders  of  Short- 
horns, and  at  least  three  of  them  breeders  of  blood  horses,  viz. :  Sir 
Henry,  Col.  Trotter  and  Mr.  Stephenson.  That  was  the  start  of  the 
Herd  Book.  Sir  Henry,  Mr.  Coates  and  Col.  Trotter,  had,  prior  to 
this  consulted  on  the  subject,  and  the  movement  at  Sir  Henry's  din- 
ner of  the  day  of  his  show,  was  in  pursuance  of  arrangement.  It 
was  conceded  that  Mr.  Coates  -was  the  most  proper  person  to  act  as 
editor  of  the  book.  He  was  fitted  for  that  duty  by  a  large  knowledge 
of  pedigrees  and  great  interest  in  cattle,  as  well  as  knowledge  of 
breeders.  He  had  also  their  confidence.  Mr.  Coates  at  once  went 
to  work.  Sir  Henry  agreed  to  defray  the  expense — but,  alas,  he  died 
the  next  year,  nine  months  only  from  this  arrangement,  when  only 
partial  progress  had  been  made.  His  death  delayed  the  matter,  and 
except  that  Mr.  Coates  continued  to  collect  material,  there  was  no 
advance  made.  Had  Sir  Henry  lived,  the  first  volume  of  the  Herd 
Book  would  have  been  published  years  before  it  was. 

"  The  matter  now  rested  until  the  first  sale  of  Robert  Colling's 
cattle  in  September,  1818.  In  the  evening  after  the  sale  the  project 
was  revived  among  the  breeders  present,  who  were  of  course  numer- 
ous, Col.  Trotter  bringing  it  up  for  consideration.  As  a  means  of 
defraying  the  expenses  and  giving  a  guarantee  to  a  publisher,  he  pro- 
posed a  subscription.  A  list  was  prepared  and  was  largely  signed 
there,  and  by  every  breeder  then  present.  As  the  list  was  not  money, 
no  further  progress  was  made  for  a  year  and  a  half.  Through  the 
zeal  of  Mr.  Bates,  who  had  deeply  entered  into  the  project,  an 
arrangement  was  made  to  hold  a  meeting  to  consider  the  subject ;  to 
examine  and  correct  the  manuscript  pedigrees,  and  furnish  more 
material.  This  meeting  took  place  at  the  King's  Head  Hotel,  Dar- 
lington. There  were  present  at  it,  Robe'rt  and  Charles  Colling,  Mrs. 
Charles  Colling,  Miss  Wright  of  Cleasby,  (her  father  was  one  of  the 
purchasers  of  Comet,  and  she  continued  her  father's  breeding  after 
his  death,)  Mr.  Bates,  Mr.  Mason  of  Chilton,  Mr.  Baker  of  Ellmore, 
Mr.  Whittaker,  Mr.  Wetherell  and  Mr.  Coates.  Letters  had  been 
addressed  largely  to  breeders,  requesting  information,  and  replies  were 
obtained  giving  much  material.  Mr.  Bates  had  traversed  all  the 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    ENGLISH    HERD    BOOK.          233 

Short-horn  region  and  procured  a  large  number  of  pedigrees.  When 
the  matter  in  hand  was  all  laid  before  the  meeting,  it  was  clear  that 
there  was  enough  for  a  good  sized  volume.  The  plan  of  arrange- 
ment as  it  appears  in  the  first  volume  was  adopted,  and  it  was  decided 
to  publish  as  speedily  as  possible. 

"The  subscription,  started  in  1818,  had  in  the  next  year  (1819) 
largely  increased.  But  a  subscription  was  not  money,  and  Mr.  Coates 
was  poor.  Therefore,  Robert  Colling  and  Mr.  Whittaker  agreed  to 
advance  the  funds  necessary.  Robert  was  still  a  breeder,  for  he  had 
sold  only  a  part  of  his  cattle  in  1818.  But  a  second  death  came  to 
stop  the  enterprise,  and  in  a  month  from  this  meeting  and  financial 
arrangement,  Mr.  Robert  Colling  died  on  the  yth  of  March,  1820. 
Mr.  Bates  would  have  advanced  the  money  required,  but  there  were 
circumstances  in  his  then  personal  position,  not  necessary  to  relate, 
which  prevented.  The  death  of  Mr.  Colling  occasioned  another 
delay,  and  for  two  years  and  more  nothing  was  done  toward  publica- 
tion. In  1822,  Mr.  Whittaker,  then  a  large  breeder,  proffered  to 
advance  himself  alone  the  money  necessary  to  print  the  first  volume, 
to  be  repaid  out  of  the  subscriptions;  but  he  made  it  a  condition 
that  the  book  should  be  printed  at  Otley,  Yorkshire,  near  Greenholme, 
where  he  had  his  business  and  residence.  Mr.  Coates  resided  at 
Carlton,  near  Pontefract,  thirty  to  forty  miles  from  Otley,  while  the 
book  could  have  been  printed  at  Pontefract  equally  well  and  cheaper. 
The  necessities  of  the  case,  in  point  of  money,  overruled  the  con- 
venience of  Mr.  Coates,  and  the  book  was  put  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Walker,  printer  at  Otley.  It  appeared  in  the  autumn  of  1822.  The 
subscribers  numbered  four  hundred  and  fifty-five,  and  the  subscrip- 
tions were  five  hundred  and  five,  at  a  guinea  each,  or  $2,580.  These 
were  paid  on  the  delivery  of  the  book,  and  Mr.  Whittaker's  advance 
refunded.  Mr.  Coates  and  Mr.  Whittaker  were  always  fast  friends 
during  life,  and  Mr.  C.  was  always  grateful  for  the  assistance  rendered 
him.  And  it  may  be  said  that  all  the  breeders  were  kind  friends  to 
him  as  he  was  to  them.  There  was  always  some  coolness  between  Mr. 
Coates  and  Mr.  Charles  Colling,  from  the  period  of  Mr.  Colling's 
success  over  Mr.  Coates  in  the  Shows  of  the  Agricultural  Society  of 
Durham.  And  this  would  not  have  been  mentioned  here,  but  that 
their  relations  were  said  to  have  influenced  Mr.  C.  Colling  adversely 
in  giving  Mr.  Coates  information  for  his  Herd  Book,  and  Mr.  Coates 
so  believed.  There  was  some  sale  beyond  the  subscriptions,  but  the 
surplus  of  receipts  above  the  expenses  of  publication  afforded  no 
remuneration  for  Mr.  Coates's  labor,  time  and  expenses  through  years 


234  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

in  obtaining  material  for  the  book.  He  was  obliged  to  be  much  at 
Otley  on  expense,  when,  if  the  book  had  been  printed  at  Pontefract, 
his  home,  or  at  Doncaster,  near  it,  that  would  have  been  avoided. 
But  Mr.  Coates'  great  point  was  gained,  for  now  not  only  were  the 
Short-horns  an  established  and  popular  breed,  and  had  long  been 
locally,  and  were  becoming  generally,  but  by  his  exertions  they  had  a 
record,  and  he  was  proud  of  it.  He  now  stood  their  herald,  to  record 
their  genealogies  and  blazon  their  escutcheons  and  their  arms." 

The  number  of  bulls  recorded  in  the  first  volume  of  Coates'  Herd 
Book  was  710,  with  about  an  equal  number  of  cows,  a  very  few  of 
which  are  noted  as  having  gone  to  America.  The  second  volume 
appeared  in  1829,  seven  years  after  the  first,  with  891  additional  bull 
pedigrees,  and  a  proportionate  number  of  cows.  We  also  find  in 
Vol.  2,  a  number  of  new  English  breeders,  and  a  few  Americans, 
added  to  the  contributors  of  pedigrees  in  the  first  volume.  The 
third  volume,- issued  in  1836,  still  seven  years  later,  and  in  bulk  larger 
than  either  of  its  predecessors,  represented  a  considerable  increase 
of  breeders,  including  a  number  of  Americans,  with  an  addition  of 
1,298  bull  pedigrees,  making  the  number  up  to  2,897,  and  a  fair  aggre- 
gate of  cows  attending  them.  '  This  third  volume,  we  understand,  on 
the  authority  just  quoted,  was  issued  by  a  son  of  Mr.  Coates,  the 
elder,  and  original  editor,  who  had  assisted  his  father  in  the  compi- 
lation of  the  two  earlier  volumes.  Mr.  George  Coates  had  died 
previous  to  its  publication.  At  seven  years  later,  in  1843,  came 
volume  four,  with  an  increase  of  3,800  bulls,  running  their  entire 
number  up  to  6,700.  Volume  four  contained  the  pedigrees  of  bulls 
only.  The  next  year,  1844,  produced  volume  five,  in  two  parts,  con- 
taining cows  only,  increasing  the  whole  number  of  cows  up  to,  proba- 
bly, 8,000  or  more.  The  three  last  books  comprised  about  1,900 
pages,  with  a  considerable  number  of  American  breeders  and  their 
cattle  pedigrees.  The  mass  of  well-bred  living  Short-horns  then  in 
England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  together  with  many  others  long  dead, 
belonging  to  breeders  who  had  neglected  to  record  their  herds  in  the 
first  three  volumes,  came  into  the  fourth  and  fifth.  Those  volumes 
also  contained  many  American  pedigrees  of  dead  as  well  as  living 
Short-horns,  fully  satisfied,  as  both  British  and  American  owners  were, 
of  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  lineage  of  their  herds  before  the  pub- 
lic, and  in  a  permanent  depository. 

These  five  volumes  concluded  the  Herd  Book  labors  of  the  Coateses 
— father  and  son.  The  proprietorship  of  the  work  and  compilation  of 
the  sixth  volume  was  thereafter  transferred  to  Mr.  Henry  Strafford, 


SHORT    PEDIGREES.  235 

who  issued  it  in  the  year  1846,  in  the  same  style  and  form,  mainly, 
as  had  been  done  by  the  Coateses.  The  work  has  since  been  con- 
tinued at  intervals  by  Mr.  Strafford,  down  to  the  year  1871,  until  the 
whole  number  amounts  to  nineteen  volumes,  containing  30,347  bulls, 
with  a  much  larger  number  of  cows.  A  considerable  number  of 
American  pedigrees  were  entered  in  the  successive  volumes  edited 
by  Mr.  Strafford,  until  a  few  years  ago,  when  they  were  no  longer 
admitted,  except  such  as  were  necessary  to  give  the  lineage  of  British 
Short-horns  descended  from  American  sires  or  dams,  or  were  ex- 
ported from  America  to  England.  The  later  volumes  of  the  E.  H.  B. 
also  contain  the  pedigrees  of  most  of  the  native  Short-horns  which 
have  since  been  imported  from  Great  Britain  into  America. 

SHORT  PEDIGREES  IN  THE  ENGLISH  HERD  BOOKS. 

We  here  mention  one  item  connected  with  the  Strafford  Herd  Book, 
particularly,  which  is  necessary  for  the  American  breeder  to  under- 
stand. No  female  pedigree,  except  in  a  few  particular  instances,  is 
admitted  to  record  in  its  pages  until  she  has  become  a  breeder,  and 
then  only  two,  three,  or  (seldom)  four  of  her  pedigree  crosses  are  given, 
with  a  further  reference  to  the  names  of  either  herself  or  her  dam  in 
some  previous  volume,  so  that  in  order  to  obtain  her  full  pedigree 
those  volumes  must  be  examined.  The  names  of  her  "produce," 
however,  are  placed  in  tabular  form,  with  date  of  birth  and  name  of 
sire  given,  that  the  pedigrees  of  such  produce  can,  with  some  extra 
labor,  usually  be  ascertained. 

We  have  given  the  above  particular  account  of  the  origin  and 
history  of  the  English  Herd  Book,  as  a  part  of  the  information  with 
which  the  American  breeder  should  be  familiar;  but  there  is  still 
another  history  with  which,  in  order  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
origin  and  truth  of  pedigrees,  he  should  be  acquainted. 

WERE  THE  EARLY  PEDIGREES  IN  THE  ENGLISH  HERD  BOOK  ALL 
TRUE  SHORT-HORNS? 

The  question  may  here  be  pertinently  asked:  "What  reliance 
have  we  that  the  names,  or  the  pedigrees  recorded  in  the  Coates  Herd 
Books  were  correct,  or  that  they  were  true  Short-horns  ?  "  To  this 
we  answer :  Nothing,  but  the  veracity  of  the  breeders  of  the  cattle 
whose  names  and  pedigrees  they  furnished,  and  the  acceptance  of 
them  by  their  contemporaries  who  were  acquainted  with  their  blood 
and  breeding.  To  several  of  those  animals  we  have  already  alluded. 


236  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

In  many  of  the  names  and  pedigrees  mutual  questions  arose  among 
the  men  who  established  the  book,  as  to  their  correctness.  Some 
averred  that  possible  crosses  of  the  Scotch  Kyloe  or  West  Highland 
blood,  or  that  of  other  breeds  had,  some  generations  back,  occurred 
in  them.  The  Dutch,  or  Holland  blood  introduction,  of  which  we 
have  previously  spoken,  (if  it  had  ever  occurred,  but  which  it  appears 
was  then  mostly  or  altogether  ignored,)  was  not  a  source  of  conten- 
tion. Of  Charles  Colling's  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke  cross  from  the 
Galloway  cow,  the  whole  story  was  then  known,  and  what  little  there 
was  left  of  its  introduction  acquiesced  in  by  the  main  body  of  the 
breeders,  as  were  the  pedigrees  of  all  others  which  could  be  traced 
into  what  were  considered  good  Short-horn  herds,  be  their  date  either 
ancient  or  modern.  Yet,  much  party  spirit  existed  among  the  Eng- 
lish breeders,  (as  now,  both  in  Britain  and  America,)  and  sharp  contro- 
versies took  place  in  relation  to  their  various  pedigrees ;  but  all 
disputes  were  finally  reconciled  into  the  admission  of  the  pedigrees 
recorded  in  the  first,  and  subsequently  into  the  succeeding  volumes 
of  the  English  Herd  Book,  so  that  with  few  exceptions,  from  that 
time  to  this,  they  have  existed  as  authority  for  the  lineage  of  their 
race.  True,  individual  questions  may  arise  among  breeders,  in  trac- 
ing pedigrees  to  a  remote  source,  as  to  the  entire  purity  of  their  Short- 
horn descent ;  still,  the  Herd  Book  record  must  ultimately  decide  the 
extent  of  confidence  in  blood  to  which  the  animal  -in  dispute  is  enti- 
tled, and  no  individual  opinion  or  decision  can,  absolutely,  otherwise 
determine  it. 

Another  point  in  the  English  Herd  Book  may  here  be  stated. 
Four  crosses  of  pedigree  bulls  running  back  to  what,  in  England,  is 
considered  a  Short-horn  cow,  with  but  fifteen-sixteenths  of  recorded 
pedigree  blood,  entitles  the  animal  having  that  number  to  a  place  in 
its  pages.  In  this  age  of  intelligence  where  five  or  six  crosses  at 
least  in  a  well-bred  English  pedigree  can  easily  be  obtained,  the 
showing  of  but  three  or  four  gives  wide  latitude  for  conjecture  and 
guess-work.  The  Booths,  from  grandfather  in  1777,  to  grandsons  in 
1871,  in  England,  have  ever  maintained  that  four  crosses  of  well-bred 
Herd  Book  bulls  running  back  to  true  Short-horn  dams  (which  can 
readily  be  found  there,  as  large  numbers  of  such  exist  which  have 
not  been  recorded  in  the  Herd  Books  to  this  date)  are  sufficient  to 
establish  thorough  breeding.  Hardly  a  single  animal  of  their  herds, 
since  they  first  obtained  their  original  bulls  from  the  Collings,  runs 
back  into  a  cow  having  an  ancient  Herd  Book  pedigree,  although  they 
have  bred  many  of  the  best  animals  the  race  has  produced,  and  yet 


EARLY  ENGLISH  HERD  BOOK  PEDIGREES.   237 

their  pedigree  cattle,  both  in  England  and  America,  are  accepted  as 
thorough-bred.  We  note  their  practice  simply  as  matter  of  history, 
not  from  any  doubt  of  the  integrity  of  their  blood.  We  have  no  such 
precedent  in  America  where  only  the  common  native  cows  of  the 
country,  or  those  of  some  well-bred  race  other  than  the  Short-horn 
can  be  resorted  to.  Thus,  in  America,  having  English  Herd  Book 
authority  for  example,  we,  as  a  matter  of  course,  have  been  constrained 
to  accept  all  English  cattle  imported  from  there  as  true  Short-horns, 
on  good  authority  that  they  were  so.  As  such,  they  are  entitled 
to  record  in  our  own  Herd  Books.  Let  cavilers  say  what  they  may, 
there  can  be  no  fairly  disputing  the  question.  As  to  what  degree  of 
confidence  such  pedigrees  may  be  received  by  the  public,  it  must  be 
simply  a  matter  of  choice,  or  individual  preference  for  them  to  either 
accept  or  refuse.  The  pedigree,  or  history  of  the  animal,  is  the  title 
to  either  acceptance  or  rejection,  as  best  suits  one's  pleasure  or  judg- 
ment. Be  it  understood,  however,  that  pedigree  alone  does  not  deter- 
mine the  excellence,  or  value  of  the  animal;  its  form  and  other  good 
qualities  must  confirm,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  value  of  the 
pedigree ;  otherwise  a  wide  misjudgment  may  be  made  in  the  choice. 

Another  point — for  we  may  as  well  canvass  the  whole  question  of 
pedigrees,  so  far  as  possible.  We  have  seen  it  intimated,  both  in  Eng- 
land and  America,  by  some  who  may  possibly  know  something  about 
it,  and  more  frequently  by  those  who  do  not,  that  there  have  been 
divers  interpolations  in  some  of  the  earlier,  or  even  later  English 
pedigrees,  some  bulls  having  been  omitted  that  ought  to  be  in,  and 
others  inserted  which  ought  to  be  left  out,  and  thus  the  pedigrees 
measurably  falsified.  That  may,  or  may  not  be.  Of  our  personal 
knowledge  we  can  say  nothing  of  the  facts ;  and  in  such  doubt,  we 
have  no  authority  to  decide  the  matter  one  way  or  the  other  but  the 
Herd  Book  itself.  The  pedigrees  are  in  the  Herd  Book,  and  being 
there,  and  long  accepted  by  the  mass  of  past,  as  well  as  living  breed- 
ers, without  the  most  positive  evidence  to  the  contrary  of  what  they 
contain,  we  have  no  right  to  question  them.  Inferences,  innuendoes, 
and  arguments  may  be  advanced  indefinitely,  but  they  prove  nothing. 

Still  another  point — treating  the  subject  exhaustively  while  about 
it.  Many  people  are  prone  to  believe  that  a  long  pedigree  extending 
sixty,  seventy,  or  eighty  years  back,  with  fifteen  or  twenty  Herd  Book 
crosses  in  it,  is  positive  evidence  of  purity,  and  therefore  no  ques- 
tion can  be  entertained  of  its  thorough  breeding.  We  shall  readily 
see  that  such  evidence  may  be  of  deficient  character.  Suppose,  for 
instance,  we  take  a  daughter  of  Charles  Ceiling's  cow  Lady,  by 


238  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

Grandson  of  Bolingbroke,  the  Galloway  cross  so  frequently  mentioned. 
This  daughter  of  Lady  had  one-sixteenth  part  of  Galloway  blood, 
and  she  being  put  to  a  bull  having  the  same  amount  of  that  blood, 
the  produce  would  contain  the  same  fraction  of  impurity.  Or, 
let  the  female  produce  be  put  to  another  bull  having  even  a  lesser 
fraction  of  the  blood — for  bulls  were  used  with  one-sixteenth,  one- 
thirty-second  and  one-sixty-fourth  part  of  it,  and  very  much  less, 
in  a  descending  ratio,  from  that  day  to  this — all  of  them  having  a 
taint  of  it.  We  ask  how  many  crosses  of  that  tainted  blood  will 
have  to  be  made  before  it  is  entirely  eradicated  ?  We  shall  not 
undertake  to  compute  it,  and  yet  to  settle  the  fact,  a  month's  labor 
or  more  may  have  to  be  exhausted  in  finding  it  out ;  while  half  the 
number  of  crosses  in  some  other  animal  may  carry  a  pedigree  back 
into  its  original  parents  without  finding  the  most  distant  taint  of  any 
other  than  pure  Short-horn  blood.  We  mention  this  without  preju- 
dice to  the  tainted  pedigree,  but  only  to  show  that  its  value  must  be 
judged  by  the  qualities  of  the  animals  through  which  it  has  run  as 
well  as  its  length,  or  the  number  of  pure  crosses  it  contains. 

To  further  elucidate  the  matter  of  blood,  let  us  reckon  the  de- 
grees of  impurity  in  the  number  of  crosses  a  pedigree  may  contain, 
by  taking  a  continuation  of  descent  from  well-bred  Short-horn  bulls 
and  a  common  cow,  or  one  of  other  blood.  The 

1st    cross  gives 1-2  blood  Short-horn. 

2d  "           3-4  " 

3d  "           7-8  " 

4th  "           15-16  " 

5th  "          31-32  " 

6th  "          63-64  " 

7th  "          127-128  "              « 

8th  "          255-256  "              " 

Qth  "          511-512  "              " 

loth  "          1023-1024  "              " 

nth  "          2047-2048  "              " 

I2th  "          4095-4096  "              " 

I3th  "          8191-8192  " 

I4th  "           16383-16384  "              " 

I5th  "           32767-32768  "              " 

i6th  "           65535-65536  " 

So,  this  sixteenth  cross  contains  1-65536  fraction  of  impure  to  all  the 
other  parts  of  good  blood.  How  much  damage,  let  us  ask,  in  ordi- 
nary probability,  will  that  do  the  creature  possessing  it  ?  And  yet  the 
bull  or  cow  possessing  this  1-65536  part  of  impure  blood,  according  to 


THE    AMERICAN    HERD    BOOK.  239 

the  natural  law  of  descent  may,  by  an  extreme  chance,  either  beget  or 
produce  an  offspring  which  may  show  in  some  one  feature,  or  even 
more,  a  cropping  out  of  its  impurity — a  remote  chance,  indeed.  Still, 
an  animal  without  the  least  taint  of  impure  blood  in  its  veins  is  better ; 
but  to  ascertain  that  fact,  to  a  certainty,  may  be  pronounced  a  sheer 
impossibility  when  we  consider  the  various  authorities  on  which  the 
English  pedigrees  have  from  time  to  time  been  founded. 

We  do  not  give  the  above  scale,  or  analysis  of  approach  to  pure 
blood,  as  an  encouragement  to  grade  or  impure  breeding,  but  to 
demonstrate  the  almost  impossibility  of  tracing  pure  breeding  back 
to  a  period  in  which  a  remote  taint  of  outside  blood  may  not  have 
crept  into  the  veins  of  an  animal,  or  a  tribe  of  animals,  which  have 
always  passed  for  thorough-bred,  both  before  and  since  the  year  1822, 
when  the  first  Herd  Book  was  established.  We  have  made  the  anal- 
ysis also  to  demonstrate  the  injustice  of  condemning  an  animal 
having  a  remote  taint  of  impure  blood  far  away  back  in  its  English 
lineage  where  its  pedigree  has  been  admitted  into  the  Herd  Books  of 
that  country,  even  when  such-  remote  taint  can  be  traced ;  and  we 
may  assert  the  injustice  also  of  denying  purity  of  blood  to  animals 
imported  into  America  without  pedigrees  at  all,  both  before  and 
since  the  English  Herd  Book  was  established,  such  animals  being 
certified  by  creditable  breeders'  evidence  that  they  were  good  Short- 
horns. The  names  of  such  originally  non-pedigreed  animals  and 
their  produce  have  been  sent  back  to  England  for  record  in  the  Herd 
Books  there,  and  they  have  been  accepted  and  recorded  as  Short- 
horns;  whether  right  or  wrong,  in  all  individual  instances,  we  do  not 
decide — but  there  we  find  them.  A  short  pedigree  of  but  four  or  five 
crosses,  even  at  the  present  day,' appears  to  have  no  terror  to  Eng- 
lish breeders,  as  we  find  bulls  recorded,  by  name  only,  as  late  as  the 
year  1843,  in  Vol.  4,  by  Coates,  and  in  Vols.  6  and  7,  in  1846  and 
1847,  by  Mr.  Strafford.  We  also  find  many  bulls  in  the  continuous 
volumes  down  to  the  ipth,  published  in  1871,  which  have  only  two, 
three,  or  four  known  crosses  in  their  pedigrees,  and  no  one,  either 
in  England  or  America,  appears  to  question  the  integrity  of  their 
blood  as  legitimately  belonging  to  the  Short-horn  race. 


240  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

THE  AMERICAN  HERD  BOOK. 

Having  compiled  and  edited  the  first  volume  of  this  work  in  the 
year  1846,  and  its  successive  volumes  to  the  eleventh,  inclusive,  down 
to  the  year  1872,  we  purpose  to  give  a  brief  notice  of  its  beginning 
and  after  continuance. 

Although  we  had  seen  a  few  herds  in  previous  years,  we  began  breed- 
ing Short-horns  in  1833,  when  our  first  experimental  acquaintance  was 
made  with  them.  The  importation  of  Mr.  Dun  into  Kentucky  in  1833, 
and  the  Scioto  valley  importation  into  Ohio  in  1834,  spread  the  Western 
reputation  of  the  Short-horns  more  widely  than  any  others  which  had 
preceded  them,  and  the  arrivals  which  annually  followed,  for  several 
years  continuously,  rapidly  increased  it.  The  produce  of  these  im- 
portations added  to  the  produce  of  previous  introductions  in  other 
States,  brought  out  many  new  pedigrees.  The  inconvenience  and 
difficulty  of  sending  these  American  pedigrees  to  England  for  record, 
as  well  as  the  importance  of  having  a  registry  nearer  home,  suggested 
to  our  consideration  some  time  afterwards  the  policy  of  establishing 
an  American  Herd  Book.  We  had  occasional  conversations  with 
leading  breeders  of  New  York  on  the  subject  as  early  as  the  year 
1843,  and  also  at  different  times  with  breeders  in  other  States,  and 
endeavored  to  enlist  them  into  taking  a  part  in  its  compilation.  But 
little  confidence,  however,  was  expressed  in  either  the  possibility  or 
success  of  such  an  undertaking,  if  attempted.  Yet  impelled  by  the 
growing  conviction  that  such  a  work  must  of  necessity  ultimately 
come,  in  the  year  1845  we  ventured  to  send  out  a  prospectus  for  the 
contribution  of  pedigrees,  and  assume  the  compilation  of  a  pioneer 
volume,  as  an  experiment,  if  nothing  more.  Although  the  prospec- 
tus was  sent  to  every  then  known  Short-horn  breeder  in  the  country, 
but  few  responded  to  it.  Some  considered  it  an  act  of  assumption 
for  one  on  this  side  the  Atlantic  to  attempt  an  American  Herd  Book, 
when  England  had  one  already  established  to  which  the  American 
breeders,  equally  with  its  own,  had  access  for  their  records.  Another 
discouraging  obstacle  was  in  the  way :  Short-horns  were  then  very 
low  in  value  in  this  country,  as  they  also  were  and  had  been  for  some 
years  past  in  England.  Sales  were  few,  and  many  breeders  felt  indif- 
ferent either  to  the  propagation  of  their  stock,  or  recording  their 
pedigrees  in  a  Herd  Book  anywhere,  much  less  in  the  United  States. 

Under  these  adverse  circumstances  the  pedigrees  contributed  were 
comparatively  few ;  yet,  under  the  advice  of  several  zealous  breeders 
whose  confidence  in  the  future  progress  of  the  Short-horns  in  our 


THE    AMERICAN    HERD    BOOK.  241 

country,  and  in  the  importance  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a 
domestic  record  was  unflagging,  a  sufficient  number  of  pedigrees  were 
forwarded  within  a  year  to  venture  the  compilation  of  a  first  volume. 
Accordingly  the  work  was  done  and  an  edition  of  six  hundred  copies 
printed  in  the  year  1846.  It  was  a  meagre  book  at  the  best,  con- 
taining the  records  of  only  190  bulls,  and  about  350  cows  and 
heifers,  with  several  names  of  their  produce  appended.  The  sales  of 
copies  were  so  few,  that  the  work  resulted  pretty  much  in  a  dead 
loss,  financially,  to  say  nothing  of  the  time  and  labor  spent  upon  the 
compilation.  With  such  a  result,  it  may  well  be  supposed  that  a 
further  enterprise  of  the  kind  would  not  be  soon  attempted.  Per- 
haps 150  copies  of  the  book  had  been  sold  within  a  year  from  its 
issue,  and  the  remaining  ones  were  long  stored  away  in  our  garret, 
ultimately,  as  we  anticipated,  to  find  their  way  among  other  waste 
material  to  the  paper  mills. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years  times  changed.  The  year  1852  had 
awakened  a  new  impulse  in  American  Short-horn  progress.  That 
and  the  succeeding  year  had  brought  some  new  importations  into 
the  country,  and  the  spirit  in  neat  stock  improvement  had  become 
aroused  to  further  progress,  importance,  and  extension. 

Several  valuable  importations  of  Short-horns  having  been  made 
into  Kentucky  and  Ohio  during  the  year  1853,  in  the  succeeding 
year  (1854)  many  of  the  spirited  breeders  in  Ohio  who  had  been 
engaged  in  late  importations,  formed  an  association  with  a  large 
subscription  list  for  the  payment  of  premiums,  and  invited  the 
"  United  States  Agricultural  Society,"  then  in  existence,  to  hold  their 
annual  October  meeting  at  Springfield  in  that  State.  The  society 
accepted  the  invitation ;  wide  publicity  was  given  to  it,  premiums  of 
most  liberal  character  were  offered  in  the  prize  lists  (confined  chiefly 
to  neat  cattle  of  various  breeds),  and  anticipations  were  indulged — 
among  the  Short-horn  breeders  more  especially — that  it  would  be  an 
event  of  great  interest  and  gratification,  as  well  as  drawing  a  wide 
attendance ;  and  in  its  result  the  public  were  not  disappointed.  The 
Kentuckians  came  over  in  strong  array,  both  in  person  and  with 
the  choice  of  their  herds.  Ohio  was  "  at  home,"  and  furnished,  as 
might  be  supposed,  a  full  quota  of  her  best  cattle,  as  well  as  a  mul- 
titude of  spectators.  Indiana  contributed  her  share  of  both;  and 
even  New  York  unexpectedly  sent  a  few  of  its  fine  Short-horns 
and  Devons,  while  the  late  liberal-hearted  Mr.  Roswell  L.  Colt,  of 
Paterson,  N.  J.,  some  600  miles  away,  sent  from  his  home,  a  nice 
selection  of  his  unique  little  Alderneys,  which,  during  some  previous 
16 


242  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

years,  he  had  imported  and  skillfully  cultivated.  The  show  of 
Short-horns  was  numerous,  and  unequaled  in  quality  at  any  previous 
exhibition  which  had  taken  place  in  the  United  States,  many  costly 
and  lately  imported  ones  being  on  the  ground.  With  a  single  excep- 
tion the  important  prizes  were  all  won  and  promptly  paid. 

During  the  exhibition  a  copy  of  the  American  Herd  Book  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Brutus  J.  Clay,  one  among  the  many  liberal 
and  large  Short-horn  breeders  of  Kentucky.  He  had  never  before 
seen  it.  On  looking  it  over,  and  considering  the  importance  of  a 
continuation  of  the  work,  after  consulting  with  several  of  the  larger 
breeders  of  his  own  and  other  States  present,  he  proposed  to  its 
editor  the  publication  of  a  second  volume,  with  a  remunerating  price 
attached  to  it,  and  urged  its  prosecution.  With  this  encouragement 
the  second  volume  was  undertaken,  a  prospectus  circulated,  and  sev- 
eral hundred  contributors  sent  their  pedigrees  for  publication.  In 
the  year  1855  the  Book  was  issued,  with  980  bull  pedigrees,  added 
to  those  of  the  first  volume,  making  up  the  whole  number  to  1170. 
In  addition  to  the  bulls,  a  much  larger  number  of  cows  were  recorded, 
making  altogether,  with  the  introductory  matter  included,  a  well-sized 
octavo  of  about  six  hundred  pages.  Thus  was  promptly  established 
the  necessity  of  an  AMERICAN  Herd  Book. 

The  second  volume,  it  must  be  recollected,  was  compiled  nine 
years  after  the  first  one  of  the  American,  and  eleven  years  after 
the  fourth  and  fifth  volumes  of  the  English  Herd  Book  had  been 
given  to  the  public,  in  which  latter  ones  the  great  majority  of  Amer- 
ican pedigrees,  published  in  England,  either  before  or  since,  were 
recorded.  During  so  long  an  interregnum  the  American  pedigrees 
had  remained  in  the  private  memorandums  of  their  breeders,  or  if 
published  at  all,  were  only  so  in  the  scattered  agricultural  papers  of 
the  day,  with  no  surety  that  even  there  the  records  would  be'perma- 
nently  kept.  Meantime,  many  breeders  had  given  up  and  sold  out 
their  herds ;  others  had  died,  while  a  considerable  majority  of  them 
sedulously  held  on  to  their  stocks,  bred  them  well,  kept  their  pedi- 
grees correctly,  and  sent  them  to  the  second  volume  of  the  American 
Herd  Book  for  record. 

At  that  time  there  were  not  a  dozen  full  sets  of  the  English  Herd 
Book  in  America,  aside  from  the  few  odd  volumes,  scattered  about  in 
the  hands  of  different  breeders.  It  may,  therefore,  be  supposed 
that  a  chaotic  mass  of  material  was  poured  into  the  hands  of  the 
editor  for  examination,  compilation,  and  revision,  a  labor  of  most  exact- 
ing kind,  involving  a  great  amount  of  toil  and  investigation,  to  say 


THE    AMERICAN    HERD    BOOK.  243 

nothing  of  the  patience  required  in  dissecting,  patching  together,  and 
arranging  such  promiscuous  and  miscellaneous  matter  into  intelligible 
shape.  But,  such  as  it  was,  the  labor  was  done.  It  is  but  justice  to 
say,  however,  that  very  many  of  the  pedigrees  were  made  out  by  their 
breeders  in  admirable  order,  with  a  spirit  of  truth  and  integrity 
to  have  them  recorded  in  a  manner  challenging  the  most  critical 
investigation ;  while  others,  not  familiar  with  keeping  pedigrees,  and 
less  methodical  in  their  memoranda,  sent  in  a  mass  of  material  incon- 
gruous in  manner,  almost  illegible  in  manuscript,  and  desperate  in  the 
hieroglyphics  composing  the  names  of  their  cattle,  as  well  as  wrong 
figures  in  their  numbers.  The  compilation  of  these  last  was  truly  a 
job,  and  such  as  under  no  other  circumstances  would  be  again  under- 
taken— at  least  by  the  compiler  of  that  Herd  Book. 

As  may  be  supposed,  some  errors  in  name,  birth,  and  genealogy, 
crept  into  the  work.  Still,  it  was  welcomed  and  encouraged  by  the 
breeders,  with 'a  further  wish  that  it  should  be  continued,  and  in  1857 
a  third  volume  was  issued,  containing  1298  bulls,  and  a  considerably 
larger  number  of  cows,  swelling  the  whole  number  of  the  former  to 
2,468,  and  several  hundred  more  of  the  latter.  This  third  volume 
also  contained  sixty-eight  corrections  of  errors  in  the  pedigrees  of 
bulls,  and  about  one  hundred  corrections  of  errors  in  the  pedigrees 
of  cows  that  were  inserted  in  the  second  volume.  Many  of  the  errors 
were,  however,  of  a  trivial  kind,  not  seriously  affecting  the  integrity 
of  the  pedigrees,  while  some  others  were  important ;  yet,  being  thus 
promptly  corrected,  the  lines  of  their  lineage  were  not  affected,  the 
produce  being  properly  recorded  in  successive  volumes ;  and  thus  the 
work,  through  varying  fortunes,  has  continued  to  the  publication  of 
its  eleventh  volume  in  the  year  1872,  in  all  containing  more  than 
30,000  pedigrees ;  but  the  issue  of  the  first  six  volumes  never  paid 
the  compiler  and  publisher  a  penny  of  pecuniary  profit — labor  and  time 
thrown  in. 

We  have  thus  detailed  at  so  much  length  the  history  of  the  Eng- 
lish and  American  Herd  Books  to  illustrate  the  zeal  and  painstaking 
labor  of  the  meritorious  class  of  men  who,  for  a  century  past,  have 
spent  their  energies  to  ennoble  and  improve  the  valuable  race  of 
animals  to  which  their  attentions  have  been  devoted ;  and  not  alone 
for  the  private  gains  anticipated  in  their  cultivation,  for  on  the  other 
hand  many  of  the  breeders  have  suffered  large  pecuniary  sacrifices 
in  their  efforts,  through  various  calamities,  from  one  cause  or  another, 
which  they  encountered  in  their  herds. 


244  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

\ 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

PROGRESS  OF  SHORT-HORNS  IN  AMERICA.  HAVE  THEY  IMPROVED 
IN  BLOOD,  QUALITY,  OR  CONDITION,  SINCE  THEIR  FIRST  IMPOR- 
TATIONS ? 

To  give  a  short  and  decisive  answer  to  the  above  pertinent  ques- 
tion, we  say  they  evidently  have  improved  here,  as  they  also  have 
in  England  for  many  years  past ;  and  although  we  may  not  speak  of 
English  Short-horns  exclusively  by  themselves,  yet,  as  we  have  received 
various  importations  almost  annually,  of  some  of  their  choicest  ani- 
mals for  the  past  twenty  years — equally  good  as  any  which  the  breeders 
retained  at  home,  and  many  of  the  best  of  which  have  passed  under 
our  own  observation — we  shall  speak  of  them  in  general,  both  in  that 
country  and  in  this. 

We  have  already  shown  that  late  in  the  last  century,  and  in  the 
earlier  years  of  the  present,  the  English  Short-horns  recorded  by 
name  and  having  pedigrees  of  their  lineage  were  few,  and  in  the 
hands  of  only  a  limited  number  of  breeders  who  sedulously  culti- 
vated their  better  qualities  to  the  highest  development  which  their 
perseverance  and  skill  could  command.  They  labored  in  their 
praiseworthy  vocation  for  more  than  forty  years  before  they  could 
even  establish  a  record  of  their  pedigrees,  and  for  more  than  forty 
years  longer  before  they  could  gain  a  public  recognition  of  the  im- 
portance of  such  a  record,  although  the  cattle  were  thickly  distrib- 
uted in  the  counties  of  Northumberland,  Durham,  York,  and  Lincoln, 
as  a  well-established  race.  Their  reputation  had  also  extended  into 
various  adjoining,  and  even  distant  counties,  both  of  England,  Scot- 
land, and  possibly  into  Ireland,  where  many  reputable  animals  had 
been  taken  and  bred  with  both  skill  and  profit. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  during  that  period  of  eighty  years  the 
great  majority  of  tenant  farmers  in  the  original  Short-horn  region — 
less  active  in  new  enterprises  than  men  of  more  widely-varied  pur- 
suits— paid  some  attention  to  improving  the  qualities  of  their  herds, 
when  of  the  Short-horn  race,  but  not  so  much  attention  as  did  the 
more  skillful  and  thoughtful  men  whose  names  we  have  from 


.ATER    IMPROVEMENT    IN    THE    SHORT-HORNS.     245 

time  to  time  mentioned.  As  a  consequence  their  cattle  were  less 
refined  in  quality  than  those  which  had  been  more  highly  cultivated 
and  cherished.  Yet,  we  may  presume  their  herds  had  been  enriched 
by  the  use  of  bulls  bought  from  the  early  popular  breeders,  and  that 
they  had  progressed  to  a  degree  of  excellence  much  beyond  what 
they  were  in  the  days  of  their  remote,  or  even  immediate,  ancestors. 
The  extending  increase,  by  their  rapidly  growing  demand,  brought 
into  use  many  cows,  and  even  bulls  of  but  moderate  quality,  although 
of  good  blood,  and  from  them  various  herds  were  bred  by  their 
enterprising  owners  with  acceptable  pedigrees,  which  found  a  record 
in  the  Herd  Book  when  once  established. 

There  were  in  those  early  days  occasional  animals  of  wonderful 
quality,  with  whose  history  we  have  become  familiar;  but  such 
remarkable  ones  did  not  abound  in  every  herd,  nor  were  their  excel- 
lences so  conspicuous  as  to  give  them  wide  notoriety  in  the  annals  of 
their  day.  Some  of  the  earlier  American  importations  from  England 
were  from  the  herds  of  the  Collings,  Mason,  Wetherell,  Maynard,  and 
other  distinguished  breeders  of  the  best  cattle  of  the  time ;  and  also 
from  several  other  reputable  breeders  known  to  possess  blood  of  ex- 
cellent quality  derived  from  the  ancient  well-bred  stocks.  A  very  im- 
portant item,  however,  entered  into  these  earlier  importations :  they 
had  to  be  obtained  at  prices  within  the  limits  which  the  buyers 
dared  venture  on  a  race  of  cattle  whose  success  was  as  yet  but  an  ex- 
periment in  this  country.  As  a  consequence  the  costliest  ones  were 
not  purchased  and  brought  to  America,  but  useful,  good  animals 
of  approved  blood  and  pedigrees,  such  as  would  stamp  their  better 
qualities  on  the  common  classes  of  our  native  stock,  and  satisfac- 
torily propagate  their  kind  with  each  other.  These  animals  were, 
no  doubt,  a  full  average  in  quality  to  the  stocks  of  the  reputable 
Short-horn  breeders  in  England  at  the  times  they  were  imported. 
Favorites,  Comets,  and  their  like,  were  then  not  common  there.  Nor 
have  bulls  of  the  very  highest  distinction,  been  common  there  since ; 
but  we  venture  the  assertion  that  there  have  been  as  good  bulls  bred 
both  in  England  and  America  since  their  day  as  was  even  Comet ; 
yet  Dukes  of  Northumberland  and  Commanders-in-Chief,  in  all  their 
striking  perfections,  may  only  crop  out  once  in  a  series  of  years, 
while  many  others  equally  meritorious  in  all  essential  qualities  may 
be,  and  are  produced  now-a-days,  both  in  England  and  America 
during  every  successive  year. 

Although  some  excellent,  even  extraordinarily  good  Short-horns  had 
been  imported  from  time  to  time  into  America  from  England  among 


246  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

the  earlier  ones,  their  produce  have  been  improving  ever  since  with 
the  American  breeders.  We  venture  the  assertion  that  our  American 
average  is  fully  equal  in  their  general  qualities  to  the  English. 
Those  of  forty,  or  even  thirty  years  ago,  as  a  rule,  were  inferior  to 
what  they  are  now.  We  remember  many  of  the  imported  ones,  and 
their  looks-  are  yet  as  familiar  to  our  mind,  as  they  were  to  our  eye 
at  the  time  we  saw  them.  Their  handling  was  less  elastic ;  although 
their  heads  and  necks  were  good,  their  chests  were  not  so  broad  and 
deep ;  their  shoulders  less  expanded  and  smooth ;  their  crops  more 
depressed,  and  they  exhibited  a  less  full  and  graceful  outline  gen- 
erally. Their  defects  were  more  striking,  and  what  should  comprise 
their  chief  excellences  were  not  so  fully  developed  as  now.  We 
might  name  sundry  animals,  bulls  and  cows,  with  which  we  were 
familiarly  acquainted,  winning  first  prizes  in  the  annual  exhibitions  of 
Agricultural  Societies,  twenty-five  years  ago,  which  no  owner  of  such 
as  they  would  now  venture  to  lead  into  a  show  ring ;  and  still,  de- 
scendants of  those  animals  at  the  present  time  take  the  highest  honors ; 
but  they  do  so  with  fresher  and  costlier  strains  of  blood  in  their 
veins,  and  by  a  more  skillful  attention  being  paid  to  their  breeding 
than  formerly.  Our  American  breeders  have  within  the  past  thirty 
years  acquired  more  skill  in  the  propagation  of  their  herds,  and  as  a 
consequence  improved  their  stock  in  a  corresponding  degree.  They  are 
better  judges  of  the  qualities  of  animals  than  were  the  breeders  of  fifty, 
forty,  or  even  less  years  ago ;  yet  the  older  breeders  were  deserving 
great  credit  for  their  efforts,  for  fhey  had  it  all  to  learn,  while  their  suc- 
cessors have  had  the  benefit  of  their  experience  and  judgment,  so  far 
as  they  had  acquired  it.  Added  to  these  advantages,  the  later  breed- 
ers have,  with  a  wise  foresight,  opened  their  purses  and  bought  animals 
at  prices  which  in  the  days  of  the  earlier  ones  would  have  been 
deemed  ruinous,  so  far  as  any  returns  for  their  outlays  could  be 
expected.  Such,  also,  has  been  the  experience  in  England.  Although 
Comet  brought  $5,000  at  Charles  Colling's  sale  in  the  year  1810,  bulls 
and  heifers  equally  thorough-bred  and  begotten  by  his  own  sire, 
sold  for  less  than  a  fourth  of  his  price.  The  price  paid  for  Comet 
was  said  all  over  England  to  be  extravagant,  and  such  a  sum  for  a 
bull  was  never  again  reached,  so  far  as  we  can  find,  until  more  than 
forty  years  later,,  when  Mr.  Thorne,  of  New  York,  bought  Grand  Duke, 
and  2d  Grand  Duke,  descendants  of  Comet,  at  the  same  bold,  and  as 
then  considered,  exhorbitant  prices.  One  or  more  bulls  have  since 
been  sold  in  England  for  Australia  at  still  higher  figures  ($7,500  for 
one,  if  we  recollect  aright),  while  some  remarkable  cows  have  been 


LATER  IMPROVEMENT  IN   THE   SHORT-HORNS.     247 

purchased  at  prices  of  about  $5,000  or  more  each,  to  come  to 
America,  or  go  to  Australia. 

In  these  enumerations  we  do  not  mention  the  fabulous  sums — much 
higher  than  either  of  those  we  have  mentioned — which  Mr.  Bates  is 
said  to  have  refused  for  his  Duke  of  Northumberland,  as  he  had 
many  times  declared  that  no  price  from  any  other  party  would  obtain 
him.  Three  to  even  six  thousand  dollars  each  have  been  paid  by 
American  breeders  for  several  American-bred  bulls,  mainly,  or  par- 
tially of  the  same  blood  as  those  above  mentioned. 

Still,  pedigree  has  not  altogether  made  those  prices.  The  animals 
so  sold  have  possessed  the  highest  excellence  of  quality,  superadded. 
The  excellence  endorsed  the  pedigree,  and  the  pedigree  endorsed  the  excel- 
lence. Such  mutualities  of  character  make  up  the  maximum  of  worth 
in  all  blood  animals  whatever,  where  the  highest  points  of  perfection 
are  sought,  or  found.  Another  item  should  be  understood  when 
naming  the  prices  of  such  animals  :  there  is  a  FASHION  in  their  blood. 
No  matter  whether  the  fashion  give  such  real  increased  value  or  not. 
When  men  take  a  fancy  to  a  thing,  be  it  Short-horn,  Horse,  or  any- 
thing else,  if  their  purses  can  afford  it,  they  are  quite  apt  to  indulge 
in  the  luxury  of  its  possession.  We  could  name  animals,  were  we  so 
disposed,  which  thirty  years  ago  one  would  pass,  without  notice, 
only  that  they  were  Short-horns,  yet  descended  from  imported  ani- 
mals, with  good  pedigrees,  so  run  down  by  neglect  as  to  look  not 
worth  a  hundred  dollars  each.  But  taken  in  hand  by  good  breeders, 
and  crossing  first-class  bulls  on  them  and  their  produce,  in  two  or 
three  generations  they  were  raised  to  rank  in  show  competitions  with 
some  of  the  costliest  of  recent  importations.  The  purchasers  of 
those  neglected  and  inferior  animals  saw  in  their  pedigrees  that  good 
blood  was  there,  and  believing  in  the  integrity  of  good  pedigree  to  rest 
upon,  and  that  proper  care  and  keep  would  restore  the  excellence  that 
ought  to  be  in  the  creature,  they  applied  the  means,  and  succeeded. 

The  fact  that  our  American,  as  well  as  the  current  English  herds, 
have  been  improved  within  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years,  to  a  higher 
standard  of  average  excellence  than  they  ever  before  approached, 
has  been  questioned  by  those  who  say  the  Short-horns,  as  a  race,  are 
no  better  than  they  were  in  the  days  of  the  Collings  or  Maynard, 
the  elder  Booth  or  Mason.  That  the  old  breeders  had  some  remark- 
ably good  animals  in  their  herds  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  all  the 
testimony  we  have  found  has  shown  a  continuous  improvement  from 
their  days  down  to  the  present ;  and  in  the  history  we  have  of  their 
herds  from  other  breeders  of  the  time  when  the  points  of  their 


248  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

animals  were  closely  criticised,  their  defects  were  such  as  would  exclude 
most  of  them  from  a  modern  English  or  American  prize-ring.  That 
the  American  Short-horns  have  constantly  improved  in  excellence 
within  the  last  thirty  years,  and  that  the  average  quality  of  our  herds, 
where  skill  and  care  have  been  bestowed  upon  them,  is  now  higher 
than  at  any  previous  period,  is  a  fact  beyond  contradiction  in  the 
judgment  of  accurate  observers. 

THE  QUALITIES  OF  PEDIGREES — THEIR  TITLES  TO  RECORD  IN  THE 

HERD  BOOKS. 

In  our  history  of  the  English  Herd  Book  we  have  learned  how 
its  pedigrees  were  originally  gathered  and  admitted  to  record.  We 
have  seen,  too,  the  lack  of  certainty  attending  the  genealogy  of 
many  animals  therein  registered.  The  histories  and  pedigrees  of 
known  animals  recorded  in  the  first  volume,  of  the  year  1822,  had 
been  accumulating  in  the  written  memoranda,  and  also  in  the  mem- 
ories of  men,  (a  good  deal  of  the  latter  by  tradition  only,)  for  more 
than  eighty  years. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
early  pedigrees  were  admitted  into  the  first  Herd  Book,  nor  that  the 
same  course  of  admission  was  pursued  in  the  succeeding  volumes 
edited  by  the  Coateses,  father  and  son,  for  the  next  twenty-two  years, 
until  1844,  when  the  labors  of  the  son  terminated  with  the  close  of 
the  fifth  volume.  Down  to  the  latter  time  the  five  volumes  comprised 
a  large  majority,  probably,  of  the  pedigrees  of  the  British  breeders, 
and  in  addition  to  them  many  American  pedigrees  which  their  breed- 
ers had  transmitted  across  the  ocean  for  record.  Yet  it  must  be 
known  that  a  considerable  number  of  American  breeders  who  had 
just  as  well  bred  cattle  at  home,  and  with  just  as  good  pedigrees  as 
many  that  were  transmitted,  to  the  Herd  Book,  did  not  send  their 
pedigrees  forward,  and  as  a  consequence  they  were  not  recorded 
in  the  English  volumes.  The  rule  of  admission  adopted  by  the 
Coateses  appear  to  have  been  that  any  animals  showing  a  reasonable 
evidence  of  descent  from  good  Short-horn  blood  were  entitled  to 
record  in  the  same  manner  that  blooded  horses  were  admitted  to  the 
"  Stud  Book ;"  that  is,  showing  a  large  preponderance  of  thorough 
breeding  without  a  known  infusion  of  baser  or  foreign  blood  in  their 
veins.  Yet  there  were  some  exceptions  to  this  rule,  as  we  have  seen ; 
still  in  the  contrarieties  of  opinion — some  of  that  opinion  based  on 
certain  knowledge,  and  some  of  it  not — as  well  as  in  the  different 


THE    QUALITIES    OF    PEDIGREES.  249 

private  interests  and  partisan  feeling  which  existed  among  many  of 
the  breeders,  and  partialities  in  favor  of  particular  strains  of  blood, 
and  equal  prejudices  against  others,  perhaps  hardly  a  single  breeder 
could  be  found  who  would  say  that  the  Herd  Book  was  correct  in  all 
the  particulars  of  its  pedigrees.  There  were  fault-finders  then,  as 
well  as  now,  and  some  who  would  be  content  with  nothing  which  did 
not  comport  with  their  own  ideas  of  positive  correctness.  Amid 
such  contrariety  of  opinion,  therefore,  the  only  conclusion  could  be 
to  accept  the  records  as  mainly  correct,  each  contributor  being  satis- 
fied in  his  own  mind  that  his  own  pedigrees  were  quite  as  good,  if 
not  better  than  the  average  of  his  neighbors. 

The  fact  may  be  also  understood  that  the  first  Herd  Book  con- 
tained only  a  small  minority  of  the  well-bred  cattle  which  had  existed 
for  the  past  fifty  years ;  neither  did  it  embrace  anything  like  the  full 
number  of  well-bred  Short-horns  alive  at  the  time  of  its  publication. 
For  instance :  Charles  Colling  had  but  59  of  all  the  animals  he  ever 
bred  recorded  in  it,  although  in  his  thirty  years  of  breeding  he  had 
probably  bred  and  sold  some  hundreds  of  thorough-breds,  and  left 
breeding  twelve  years  before  the  book  was  printed.  Robert  Colling, 
who  bred  cattle  down  to  two  years  of  its  publication  had  only  93  of 
all  his  extensive  herds  recorded.  The  three  Booths,  Thomas,  John 
and  Richard  —  father  and  sons  —  then  in  the  full  career  of  their 
breeding,  had  but  52;  Major  Bower  had  56;  Mr.  Coates  had  42; 
Mr.  Compton  had  19;  Mr.  Currier  20;  Mr.  Donkin  15;  Mr.  Earn- 
shaw  18;  Mr.  Gibson  47;  Mr.  Hutchinson,  of  Stockton,  54;  Sir 
Henry  Carr  Ibbetson  28;  the  two  Joblings  30;  Mr.  Mason  77;  the 
three  Maynards  15;  Col.  Mellish  30;  Mr.  Ostler  18;  Mr.  Parker  20; 
Mr.  Parrington  15 ;  Mr.  Robertson  23 ;  Major  Rudd  35  ;  Mr.  Sey- 
mour 18;  Mr.  Simpson  60;  Mr.  Smith  44;  Mr.  Spoors  25  ;  Sir  Henry 
Vane  Tempest  13  ;  Mr.  Chesterfield  27  ;  Col.  Trotter  38;  Mr.  Wailes 
15;  Mr.  Wetherell  45;  Mr.  Whittaker  46;  Mr.  Wright  35;  Miss 
Wright  35  ;  and  they  comprised  the  chief  contributors  of  pedigrees, 
and  were  all  old  breeders.  The  remainder  of  pedigrees  which  the 
book  contained  were  contributed  by  the  smaller  breeders,  besides 
very  many  animals  known  by  name  and  tradition  only,  with  no  breed- 
er's or  owner's  name  appended  to  them.  Such  a  record,  with  much 
of  it  so  loosely  made  up,  would  be  utterly  condemned  at  the  present 
day  by  some  who  suppose  that  a  well-bred  Short-horn  should  carry 
its  pedigree  back  for  centuries ;  but  others  who  know  that  a  geneal- 
ogy among  brute  animals  must  begin  at  sometime  "  when  the  memory 
of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary,"  will  be  content  to  accept  the 


250  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

dates  and  pedigrees  of  the  Short-horns  as  they  stand  in  Coates'  five 
volumes,  and  there  leave  them. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  the  several  men  engaged  in  breeding  had 
sold  during  the  anterior  years  of  their  labors  a  large  number  of  well- 
bred  Short-horns,  which  had  not  found  their  way  into  the  first,  nor 
afterwards  into  either  the  second  or  third  volumes  of  the  Herd  Book ; 
but  many  of  them,  and  the  produce  of  two  or  three  of  their  descend- 
ing generations,  may  have  come  into  the  fourth  and  fifth,  which  in  the 
year  1844,  at  the  end  of  twenty-two  years  from  the  publication  of  the 
first,  embraced  an  addition  of  3,802  bulls,  and  full  as  many  cows,  thus 
gathering  during  the  last  seven  years  since  volume  three  was  printed 
a  large  majority  of  the  well-bred  Short-horns  of  England,  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  entitled  to  record,  besides  many  additional  American 
pedigrees  beyond  what  were  recorded  in  the  previous  books. 

The  fourth  volume,  containing  only  bulls,  like  the  first,  second  and 
third,  had  many  animals  by  name  simply,  some  with  only  a  sire, 
others  with  but  a  single  sire  and  dam ;  many  more  with  not  over  two 
or  three  known  crosses,  and  a  large  number  of  them  without  notice 
by  whom  they  were  bred,  or  when  they  were  born — whether  in  the 
last  century  or  the  present — thus  gathering  the  known  animals  of  the 
race  under  one  legitimate  fountain-head  where  their  future  pro- 
duce could  be  traced  into  a  common  genealogy  of  blood,  whether 
that  blood  could  be  definitely  traced  further  back  into  pure  sources, 
or  not.  In  this  general  "consolidation" — to  use  a  comprehensive 
phrase  of  the  present  day — the  British  Short-horn  public  at  large 
acquiesced  and  were  satisfied.  With  a  very  few  noted  exceptions, 
everything  recorded  there  was  considered  by  the  general  consent  of 
English  breeders  a  "  Herd  Book  Short-horn,"  and  as  such,  its  pro- 
duce was  entitled  to  record  in  any  and  every  future  Herd  Book 
which  should  be  anywhere  published. 

To  an  antiquarian  in  Short-horn  genealogy  the  above  summary 
may  seem  to  arrive  at  both  a  sweeping  and  arbitrary  conclusion. 
Yet  the  breeding  world  of  Great  Britain  sustained  it,  and  followed 
out  their  own  pedigrees  in  pursuance  of  the  then  established  records 
from  which  there  has  been  little  or  no  appeal ;  or  if  appeal  were 
made  it  was  only  in  personal  complaints,  to  which  the  breeding  pub- 
lic paid  no  particular  attention,  falling  back  on  the  Herd  Book 
record,  after  all,  as  the  standard  of  blood  and  genealogy,  there  being 
no  appellate  court  to  set  the  records  aside. 

The  sixth  volume  of  the  Herd  Book,  under  Mr.  Stafford's  com- 
pilation, followed  the  fifth  volume  of  Coates'  within  the  next  two 


THE    QUALITIES    OF    PEDIGREES.  251 

years,  in  1846,  and  under  the  same  order  and  system  of  record  the 
successive  volumes  have  continued  at  intervals  of  about  two  years 
down  to  the  nineteenth,  issued  in  1871.  Yet  the  ^?«-pedigreed 
animals  became  fewer  as  time  progressed ;  but  short  pedigrees,  with 
only  two,  three,  or  four  crosses  have  been  continued  down  and  even 
into  the  last  volume.  A  word  as  to  why  these  short  pedigrees  have 
been,  and  also  may  in  future  volumes  be  so  continued.  It  is  well 
known  in  England,  and  ought  to  be  as  well  known  in  America,  that 
many  herds  of  well-bred  Short-horns  exist  at  the  present  day  in 
Britain,  the  owners  of  which  have  never  kept  written  records  of  their 
breeding,  and  whose  pedigrees  have  never  found  their  way  into  the 
Herd  Books.  We  give  an  instance :  When  Mr.  John  R.  Page,  the 
well-known  American  cattle  artist,  was  in  England  a  few  years  ago, 
looking  over  Mr.  T.  C.  Booth's  herd  with  him  one  day  in  their  pas- 
ture, he  remarked  somewhat  on  the  short  pedigrees  to  some  of  the 
cattle  which  Mr.  Booth,  as  well  as  other  breeders  of  celebrity  had 
in  their  herds.  "Look  out  on  yonder  field,"  said  Mr.  Booth,  point- 
ing to  a  broad  pasture  on  a  hill  some  half  a  mile  distant  where 
were  grazing  a  fine  herd  of  Short-horns;  "do  you  see  those  cattle?" 
"I  do,"  answered  Mr.  Page.  "Well,  sir,  the  owner  of  that  herd 
is  an  old  dairyman  and  stock  raiser.  I  have  known  him,  his  herd 
and  their  history,  from  my  boyhood.  His  father  bred  the  progeni- 
tors of  that  herd,  which  were  good  Short-horns  in  the  days  of  my 
grandfather,  Thomas  Booth,  in  the  year  1780,  and  the  cows  have 
been  bred  from  that  day  to  the  present  time  to  bulls  belonging  to 
him,  my  own  father,  my  uncle  Richard,  and  myself.  Why  are  they 
not  good  Short-horns,  although  a  pedigree  beyond  two  or  three 
crosses  cannot  be  traced  among  them  ? "  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  of  New 
York,  related  to  us  that  when  in  England  in  the  year  1841,  he  saw 
several  herds  of  good  Short-horns,  which  had  been  long  bred  in  the 
same  manner  to  noted  bulls  of  other  breeders. 

«We  do  not  give  the  above  relations  to  excuse  the  neglect  of 
recording  pedigrees,  or  to  justify  short  pedigrees  which  cannot  be 
traced  into  thorough-bred  Herd  Book  parents  on  both  sides ;  but  as  a 
fact  showing  that  there  are  men  in  England  who  are  as  careful  in 
the  blood  of  their  cattle  bred  only  for  economical  uses  as  those  who 
rear  their  stock  for  the  sale  of  pedigree  animals  alone ;  but  not  breed- 
ing for  the  latter  purpose  they  pay  no  attention  to  recording  their 
cattle  in  the  Herd  Book.  And  this  may  account  for  many  of  the 
short  pedigrees  of  the  present  day  in  some  English  herds,  together 
with  many  which  have  been  imported  to  the  United  States  within 


252  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

the  last  forty  or  fifty  years,  with  little  or  no  pedigree  at  all  attached 
to  them. 

The  above  explanations  have  appeared  to  be  necessary  in  order  to 
understand  the  exact  condition  of  the  English  Herd  Book,  and  the 
principles  on  which  it  was  founded. 

THE  PEDIGREES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  HERD  BOOK. 

Assuming  the  necessity  of  a  Herd  Book  on  this  side  the  Atlantic, 
there  could  be  no  other  plan  so  well  adopted  for  its  compilation  as 
that  of  the  English.  To  the  records  of  the  latter  the  Americans 
must  resort  for  the  lineage  of  all  their  pedigrees  tracing  to  animals 
which  found  a  place  in  it.  In  addition  to  that,  Short-horns  imported 
from  England  to  America,  together  with  their  descendants,  whether 
recorded  in  the  English  volumes  or  not,  with  equal  evidences  of  good 
breeding  as  very  many  others  which  were  recorded  in  their  pages,  had 
equally  good  title  to  enter  the  American  books,  particularly  when 
many  of  their  contemporaries  had  already  found  a  record  there. 

As  has  been  observed,  the  year  1844  closed  the  labors  of  the 
Coateses  with  the  fifth  volume  of  the  English  work,  and  the  several 
books  down  to  that  time  contained  many  pedigrees  of  American 
cattle.  In  the  year  1846  the  first  small  volume  of  the  American, 
and  the  sixth  volume  of  the  English,  under  Mr.  Stratford,  were  simul- 
taneously published,  but  neither  of  them,  we  believe,  known  to  the 
compiler  of  the  other,  at  the  time.  Of  course  the  two  books,  or 
their  editors,  had  no  relations  with  each  other.  The  American  was 
an  independent  work  altogether.  Its  sole  object  was  to  establish 
a  record  for  American-bred  animals,  without  interference  with  either 
the  past  or  the  future  English  records,  yet  upon  the  same  basis  of 
admission. 

Questions  had  arisen  among  the  American  breeders  as  to  what 
bloods,  tribes,  or  pedigrees  ought  to  be  admitted  into  an  American 
book  in  the  event  of  one  being  published,  for  even  in  the  early  days 
of  our  Short-horn  breeding  some  partisan  feeling  had  arisen  as  to 
what  pedigrees  were  or  what  were  not  entitled  to  a  record  as  well- 
bred  Short-horns.  About  the  year  1840,  or  soon  afterwards,  as  we 
have  learned,  the  principal  Kentucky  breeders  came  to  a  resolu- 
tion to  get  up  an  American  Herd  Book,  and  Capt.  Benjamin  Warfield, 
of  Fayette,  now  deceased,  together  with  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Martin,  of 
Clark,  and  Mr.  Robert  W.  Scott,  of  Franklin  counties — the  two  last 
named  gentlemen  still  living — were  appointed  a  committee  to  receive 


THE    QUALITIES    OF    PEDIGREES.  253 

pedigrees,  examine  and  decide  upon  their  merits  and  compile  the 
records.  Many  pedigrees  were  sent  to  them ;  they  had  several  meet- 
ings on  the  subject,  but  after  much  consideration  the  whole  matter 
was  indefinitely  postponed,  and  nothing  came  of  it.  Nor  was  it 
likely  that  any  other  committee  would  arrive  at  any  definite  conclu- 
sions, particularly  when  conflicting  opinions,  and  possibly  interests  in 
the  way  of  blood  and  pedigrees  would  interfere.  Thus  the  way  was 
left  open  to  individual  enterprise,  and  insignificant  as  its  first  effort 
promised,  the  opportunity  was  ventured. 

Opposing  questions,  if  such  existed,  relating  to  the  authenticity  of 
the  pedigrees  to  be  admitted  to  its  pages  did  not  enter  into  the  com- 
pilation of  the  first  volume,  although  many  of  the  elder  breeders  in 
several  States  were  consulted.  But  when  the  second  volume  was 
about  to  be  issued,  questions  were  addressed  to  them,  and  the  gist  of 
their  opinions  seemed  to  be  reached  in  a  letter  from  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
Breckenridge,  of  Danville,  Ky.,  who,  aside  from  his  professional 
labors,  was  a  veteran  breeder  of  Short-horns  and  other  improved 
stock  in  Kentucky,  to  the  editor,  in  which  he  remarked : 

"  I  think  you  act  wisely  in  accepting  all  pedigrees  which  run 
back  into  the  English  Herd  Books ;  for,  right  or.  wrong,  that  is  the 
fountain  of  the  genealogy  of  the  race  at  present.  But,  having  taken 
that  apparently  inevitable  step,  it  seems  to  be  impossible  to  refuse  to 
take  the  next,  necessitated  by  that  one,  namely,  to  accept  all  Ameri- 
can pedigrees  as  good  as  the  average  pedigrees  of  the  English  Herd 
Book.  These  two  principles  cover  the  whole  ground ;  and  all  the 
rest  is  merely  a  question  of  truth  in  the  alleged  pedigrees,  concern- 
ing which,  unless  the  contrary  appears,  you  cannot  well  avoid  recog- 
nizing the  truth  of  pedigrees  that  on  their  face  appear  to  be  true. 

"  After  all,  a  Herd  Book  is  but  a  record  office.  It  can  neither  settle 
the  quality  nor  the  title  of  the  estate  admitted  to  record." 

These  remarks,  so  full  of  sound  logic  and  good  sense,  were  adopted 
by  the  editor,  and  pedigrees  admitted  to  the  English  Herd  Book  were 
taken  as  a  standard  for  the  future  records  of  the  American  work. 

Looking  at  the  condition  of  the  American  herds  and  their  pedi- 
grees, let  us  see  how  they  stood.  The  early  Kentucky  and  Ohio  Short- 
horn herds  had  been  chiefly  founded,  first  on  the  Gough  or  Goff  and 
Miller,  or  Patton  stock,  and  afterwards  commingled  with  the  Sanders 
importation  of  1817,  all  of  them  without  known  pedigrees,  as  no 
English  Herd  Book  had  then  been  published;  but  the  iSiy's  were 
certified  in  their  bills  of  purchase  to  be  well-bred  Short-horns.  Many 
of  the  female  produce  of  these  herds,  after  the  year  1826,  were  bred 


254  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

to  recorded  bulls  from  the  imported  herds  of  Colonel  Powel  and 
others,  from  the  Eastern  States,  and  the  pedigrees  of  many  of 
their  progeny  had  been  accepted  and  recorded  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
volumes  of  the  English  Herd  Book,  together  with  some  of  the  orig- 
inals from  which  they  sprung.  That  there  may  be  no  misunderstand- 
ing of  the  matter  we  give  a  list  of  some  of  the  bulls  of  the  Patton 
and  1817  stocks  and  other  originally  nan-pedigreed  ones  recorded 
there,  to  which  we  might  add  an  equal  or  larger  number  of  cows  of 
like  quality  and  pedigree  also  recorded.  They  are  as  follows,  the 
numbers  of  the  bulls  attached.  The  words  after  the  numbers  are 
our  own : 

Florian  (6018),  bred  by  C.  N.  Bement,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  running  back 
to  the  Cox  importation  of  1816. 

Paul  Jones  (4661),  got  by  San  Martin  (2599),  out  of  Mrs.  Motte, 
Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Tecumseh  (£409),  was  of  the  Ky.  imp.  of  1817,  by  Col.  Sanders. 

San  Martin  (2599),  Ky.  imp.  1817,  by  Col.  Sanders. 

Corwin  (3500),  bred  by  M.  L.  Sullivant,  ending  in  imp.  dam  Flora, 
bred  by  Mr.  Mason,  of  Chilton. 

Embassador  (3711),  a  Hereford  bull,  imported  by  Henry  Clay 
into  Kentucky  in  the  year  1816. 

Rising  Sun  (6386),  a  Long-horn  bull,  imported  by  Col.  Sanders 
into  Kentucky  in  1817. 

Independence  (4070),  got  by  Ajax  (2944),  no  dam,  bred  by  Gen. 
Van  Rensselaer,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  although  known  to  be  descended 
from  imp.  Pansy,  by  Blaize  (76),  etc. 

Shannon  (511 1),  ending  in  Flora,  same  as  Corwin,  above. 

Buzzard  (3253),  of  the  Gough  and  Miller  Virginia  importation  in 
the  year  1785,  or  soon  afterwards. 

Charles  (3344),  of  Ky.  imp.  1817,  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Chieftain  (3369),  ending  in  the  Teeswater  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Clarke  (3394),  ending  in  the  Durham  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Fantastical  (3760),  ending  in  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Farmer  (3763),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Goldfinder  (3909),  ending  in  Teeswater  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Harrison  (3979),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Kleber  (4165),  ending  in  a  son  of  Rising  Sun  (6386),  and  the 
Teeswater  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Lannes  (4182),  ending  in  the  Teeswater  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Lofty  (4245),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Major  (4340),  ending  in  Teeswater  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 


THE    QUALITIES    OF    PEDIGREES.  25$ 

Mohawk  (4492),  by  Tecumseh  (5409),  out  of  Mrs.  Motte,  both  of 
Ky.'imp.  1817. 

Mohican  (4493),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Priam  (4762),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Ranter  (4781),  ending  in  the  Teeswater  cow. 

Rufus  (5034),  ending  in  the  Teeswater  cow 

Sambo  (5073),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Sir  Henry  (5158),  ending  in  the  Durham  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Superior  (5359),  ending  in  same  as  Kleber  (4165). 

Andrew  (5755),  ending  in  Durham  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Billy  Button  (5795),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Goldbud  (6042),  ending  in  Teeswater  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817. 

Indian  Chief  (6090),  ending  in  Durham  cow,  Ky.  imp.  1817 

Sultan  .(6552),  ending  in  Buzzard  (3253). 

Winfield  (6687),  ending  in  Teeswater  cow. 

Wonder  (6689),  ending  in  Teeswater  cow. 

There  are  carpers  knowing  little  of  the  subject,  as  we  infer  after 
reading  some  of  their  criticisms,  who  profess  to  detect  sundry  grade 
or  spurious  pedigrees  in  the  American  volumes,  (a  few  cases  of  which 
may  possibly  be  so,)  and  besides  them,  condemn  in  one  sweeping 
clause  the  pedigrees  of  the  descendants  of  the  "Patton  stock,"  and 
also  those  of  the  Kentucky  importation  of  1817,  together  with  sundry 
others,  of  which  they  know  quite  as  little  as  they  do  of  them. 

Let  us  look  somewhat  into  these  animals  and  their  asserted  qual- 
ities. The  true  blood  of  the  Patton  stock,  we  admit,  is  somewhat 
cloudy  in  its  origin.  But  we  give  the  evidence  of  many  of  the 
venerable  leading  breeders  of  past  days,  some  of  whom  years 
ago  passed  away,  while  others  are  still  living.  Among  the  de- 
ceased were  Col.  Lewis  Sanders,  the  importer  of  the  1817  stock;  the 
brothers  Dr.  Elisha  and  Capt.  Benjamin  Warfield,  Capt.  John  Cun- 
ningham, Mr.  Walter  Dun,  Dr.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  together 
with  Gov.  Allen  Trimble  and  Mr.  George  Renick,  of  Ohio.  There 
were  others,  also  deceased,  not  now  recollected.  To  these  we  add  the 
names  of  the  venerables  Robert  W.  Scott,  Samuel  D.  Martin,  Jere- 
miah Duncan,  Rev.  John  Allen  Gano,  Rev.  R.  T.  Dillard,  B.  W. 
and  B.  T.  Dudley,  Issacher  Fisher,  Micajah  Burnett,  of  the  United 
Society  of  Shakers  at  Pleasant  Hill,  together  with  Ithamer  Johnson 
and  Peter  Boyd,  of  the  Society  of  Shakers,  Union  Village,  Ohio,  still 
living.  Several  of  the  above  named  gentlemen,  now  dead,  we  per- 
sonally knew  years  ago;  some  of  the  others  yet  alive  we  are  well 
acquainted  with,  and  they  who  knew  the  animals,  without  difference 


2$6  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

of  opinion,  have  assured  us  that  the  early  Patton  bulls — Buzzard 
(3253);  Pluto,  825;  Mars,  1850;  and  Shaker,  2193 — taken  into  Ken- 
tucky and  Ohio,  had  the  appearance  and  characteristics  of  Short- 
horns, and  good  ones;  while  those  of  the  well-known  Kentucky 
importation  of  1817 — bulls  and  cows  alike — were,  to  all  appearance, 
true  Short-horns,  showing  purity  of  blood,  with  the  distinguishing 
qualities  of  good  breeding,  which  mark  the  race  at  the  present  day. 
Yet  these  animals  had  no  written  pedigrees,  being  sent  out  of  Eng- 
land years  before  a  Herd  Book  was  known  in  that  country,  and  what 
genealogy  they  had  was  only  kept  in  the  private  notes  or  memoranda 
of  their  breeders,  or  retained  in  their  memories,  or  by  tradition, 
except  that  of  the  cow  Mrs.  Motte,  whose  pedigree  has  since 
been  traced  in  our  previous  account  of  the  particulars  of  the  1817 
importation. 

We  are  not  disposed  to  argue  the  question  of  the  purity  of  Short- 
horn descent  in  all  or  any  one  of  these  animals,  nor  of  any  others  which 
have  come  into  the  country  claiming  to  be  well-bred  Short-horns,  but 
without  certified  pedigrees.  We  purpose  to  calmly  and  plainly  state 
facts,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  them.  We  are  aware  that 
of  late  there  has  grown  up  a  prejudice  against  the  blood  of  the  above 
named  tribes  of  cattle — right  or  wrong,  we  do  not  decide,  yet  we 
believe  very  much  of  that  prejudice  to  be  unfounded. 

Let  us  state  the  case  clearly.  When  the  Patton  bulls  came  into 
Kentucky,  although  the  blue-grass  region  at  that  early  day  had  herds 
of  good  native  cattle,  they  were  at  once  recognized  as  a  superior 
breed  to  any  ever  before  seen  in  that  locality,  and  were  immediately 
adopted  and  encouraged  for  use  in  breeding  by  the  most  sagacious 
of  the  cattle  breeders  there.  In  course  of  time  came  the  1817  im- 
portation of  Col.  Sanders.  They  were  represented  as  without  taint 
or  blemish  of  outside  blood  in  their  compositions;  as  true  Short- 
horns from  near  the  river  Tees,  the  ancient,  and  then  best  known 
home  of  the  race.  That  was  five  years  before  the  name  of  a  public 
Herd  Book  was  known  in  that  or  any  other  country.  The  enter- 
prising cattle  breeders  of  Kentucky  at  once  adopted  them,  as  well  as 
the  Hereford  bull  Embassador,  and  the  Long-horn  bull  Rising  Sun, 
which  were  both  of  good  and  ancient  established  breeds,  and  down 
to  the  present  day  are  held  in  high  estimation  in  England.  These 
two  bulls  were  not  much  used,  the  Short-horns  having  a  decided 
preference  with  the  principal  breeders,  and  after  some  crosses  on  the 
Short-horns  they  soon  run  out,  leaving  but  few  visible  traces  of  their 
blood  among  them.  This  course  of  breeding  continued  several 


THE    QUALITIES    OF    PEDIGREES.  257 

years,  and  until  bulls  were  bought  from  Col.  Powel,  of  Philadelphia, 
who  had  begun  his  Short-horn  importations  in  the  year  1824,  two 
years  after  the  first  English  Herd  Book  was  issued,  wherein  the 
pedigrees  of  his  stock  were  recorded. 

Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  for  many  years  had  been  the  principal, 
perhaps  the  only  markets  at  which  the  Kentucky  and  central  Ohio 
breeders  and  drovers  sold  their  best  beef  cattle,  and  they  soon  found 
and  saw  the  newly  imported  Short-horns.  Ascertaining  that  some 
of  them  were  for  sale,  they  wisely  opened  their  purses  and  obtained 
a  few  choice  ones — bulls  to  cross  upon  their  Patton  and  1817  bloods, 
and  cows  to  rear  from  them  younger  and  equally  pure  blooded  ones 
with  which  to  perpetuate  their  stocks.  From  that  time  forward 
the  Kentucky,  and  such  of  the  Ohio  breeders  as  had  adopted  them, 
throve  apace  with  their  herds,  exhibited  them  at  their  domestic  cattle 
shows,  took  prizes  in  competition  with  each  other,  and  sold  their 
surplus  animals  to  their  neighbors,  and  into  other  States,  gave  them 
pedigrees,  truly,  no  doubt,  yet  the  great  majority  of  them  ending  in 
the  "Durham  cow,"  the  "Teeswater  cow,"  "Mrs.  Motte,"  or  with  the 
bulls  Buzzard,  Pluto,  Mars,  Shaker,  of  the  Patton  stock,  with  the  other 
names  of  San  Martin  (2599),  Tecumseh  (5409),  Comet,  and  Prince 
Regent  (of  1817),  occurring  in  more  or  less  Of  the  pedigrees.*  Thus 
the  Patton,  the  Sanders  importation  of  1817,  and  the  later  Powel  stocks 
were  all  intermingled  in  the  general  class  of  Short-horns,  and  many 
of  their  pedigrees  sent  over  to  the  successive  volumes  of  the  English 
Herd  Book  for  record,  where  they  were  welcomed  and  published 
without  reserve  or  exception.  Among  them  were  frequent  animals 
(as  related  by  several  of  the  old  breeders  who  have  been  mentioned) 
which  would  pass  creditably  in  most  of  the  modern  herds.  Numer- 
ous descendants  of  those  stocks  have  been  distinguished  as  prize 
winners,  even  down  to  the  present  day,  in  some  of  the  noted  show- 
rings  of  the  Short-horn  localities. 

With  the  array  of  early  animals  without  known  pedigrees,  both 
imported,  and  American  bred,  which  we  find  recorded  in  the  English 
Herd  Book,  it  legitimately  follows  that  the  breeders  of  them  and  their 
produce  were  entitled  to  a  continuation  of  such  pedigrees  in  the 
American  record ;  and  equally  entitled  to  admission  by  the  side  of 
them  were  like  pedigrees  of  animals  of  other  breeders,  which  had  not 
been  sent  to  England  for  record.  The  proposition  needs  no  argument. 

*It  is  proper  to  state  here  that  the  pedigrees  of  the  bulls  Pluto,  825  ;  Mars,  1850 ;  Shaker,  2193  ; 
Comet,  1382,  and  Prince  Regent,  877,  whose  numbers  ^are  only  in  the  American  Herd  Book,  were 
not  publicly  recorded  until  the  ad  and  3d  volumes  of  the  latter  were  published. 

17 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

There  is  still  another  class  of  imported  non-pedigreed  Short-horns, 
or  with  but  a  single  cross  or  two  of  pedigree  attending  them,  which 
need  a  like  explanation,  as  the  Pattons  and  iSiy's.  From  the  year 
1816,  (in  which  the  Cox  importation  into  Rensselaer  county,  N.  Y., 
was  made,)  and  during  later  years,  to  1830,  sundry  Short-horns  were 
brought  over  from  England,  to  all  appearance  well  bred,  and  so  certi- 
fied by  the  breeders'  certificates.  Some  of  these  and  their  produce 
had  also  been  recorded  in  the  English  Herd  Book,  and  of  course  were 
entitled  to  record  in  the  American.  Cox's  bull  is  (3513),  E.  H.  B. 

Yet  a  later  class  of  non-pedigreed  cows — or  with  only  a  single 
cross  or  two  attached — have  been  introduced,  beginning  in  1834, 
with  the  first  importation  of  the  Ohio  Company,  and  continued  dur- 
ing the  two  or  three  years  of  their  subsequent  arrivals.  A  few  such 
cows  came  out  with  other  good  pedigreed  ones  to  Kentucky  in 
1837-9.  Some  others  were  also  imported  into  several  of  the  Eastern 
States  and  there  bred.  These  short,  and  non-pedigreed  ones,  were 
purchased  of  the  same  classes  of  breeders  as  were  the  pedigreed 
cows,  and  some  of  them  came  over  in  the  same  ships  with  them. 
They  were,  apparently,  equally  well  bred,  showed  as  well  in  quality, 
and  the  buyers  were  assured  by  their  English  breeders  of  whom  they 
purchased  them  that  they  were  thorough-bred  Short-horns,  although 
they  gave  no  written  evidence  of  the  fact.  Why  the  short,  or  non- 
pedigreed  cows  were  bought,  when  those  having  good  pedigrees 
could  be  readily  obtained,  it  is  now  hard  to  say.  But  most  of  them 
were  accepted  by  our  home  breeders  in  their  several  localities,  on 
their  arrival,  as  pure  Short-horns,  their  produce  have  been  recorded 
in  the  Herd  Books,  and  they  stand  unquestioned  in  public  opinion 
as  well-bred  animals.  We  do  not  name  the  cows  alluded  to,  but 
they  and  their  produce  can  be  readily  found  by  referring  to  the 
records.  The  same  state  of  facts  apply  to  other  cows  which  were 
imported  a  dozen  or  fifteen  years  later  into  several  States.  On  look- 
ing at  the  circumstances  attending  these  later  non-pedigreed  cows  of 
1834  to  1856,  and  the  like  circumstances  attending  the  importations 
of  1817  to  1830,  twenty  to  thirty  odd  years  earlier,  and  with  equal 
evidences  of  good  breeding,  we  fail  to  discover  the  equity  of  reason- 
ing which  makes  the  produce  of  the  later  ones  thorough-breds,  and 
leaves  the  produce  of  the  earlier  ones,  with  several  additional  and 
equally  good  crosses  in  their  veins,  only  grade  animals !  All  the  non- 
pedigree  classes  we  have  named  having  been  admitted  to  record 
in  the  English  Herd  Book,  they  could  not  be  excluded  from  the 
American  record  without  upsetting  the  entire  system  on  which  the 


THE    QUALITIES    OF    PEDIGREES.  259 

English  work  had  been  founded,  conducted  and  sanctioned  by  the 
Short-horn  public  in  both  hemispheres. 

If  later  breeders  objected  to  these  pedigrees,  or  had  little  confi- 
dence in  the  blood  of  the  stock  which  the  pedigrees  represented, 
they  had  only  to  let  them  alone,  and  select  their  stocks  from  others 
more  to  their  liking.  It  was  no  detriment  to  other  preferred  pedi- 
grees that  the  objectionable  ones  were  there.  Their  supposed  inferior 
blood  could  not  injure  the  better  blood  of  others,  recorded  by  the 
side  of  them.  The  idea  that  an  impure  pedigree  being  recorded 
in  the  Herd  Book,  makes  it  pure,  is  a  fallacy  of  the  sheerest,  kind. 
Every  pedigree  rests  on  its  own  merits  or  demerits,  and  by  such  they 
are  to  be  judged. 

In  this  discussion  of  the  admission  of  past  pedigrees  in  the  Herd 
Books,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  impure-blooded  animals,  or  grades 
known  and  understood  as  such,  should  be  admitted  to  record.  We 
simply  say  in  conclusion  of  this  particular  topic,  that  the  strains  of 
blood  which  have  been  admitted  into  the  English  Herd  Book  are 
equally  entitled  to  admission  into  the  American.  The  breeder  can 
either  include  them  in  his  selection  or  reject  them,  a§  his  interests  or 
tastes  may  determine. 

Having  summed  up  at  such  length  the  situation  of  the  Herd 
Books,  both  English  and  American,  and  the  question  of  their  pedi- 
grees, we  may  not  have  allayed  a  single  prejudice  against  any  tribes, 
bloods,  or  strains  of  blood  which  may  exist  in  the  minds  of  any 
breeders ;  nor  have  we  wished  to  detract  from  the  merits  of  others  to 
which  they  may  be  partial.  We  have  only  aimed  to  relate  facts 
which  may  enlighten  doubting  minds,  and  satisfy  hesitating  conclu- 
sions as  to  certain  bloods  and  genealogies.  If  we  have  made  clear 
matters  which  have  heretofore  been  doubtful,  our  aim  has  been  accom- 
plished ;  if  not,  we  can  only  regret  that  our  labor  has  been  in  vain. 

Fastidious  critics  may  object  to  the  remote  taints  of  Hereford  and 
Long-horn  blood  which  may  be  traced  into  some  of  the  early  Ken- 
tucky pedigrees ;  but  when  it  is  recollected  that  both  these  breeds  are 
of  ancient  descent,  and  at  the  present  day  are  highly  esteemed  in 
England — preferred,  even,  in  their  own  localities,  to  the  Short-horns — 
the  i-i28th,  i-256th,  i-5i2th,  or  less  fraction  of  these  bloods  in  their 
veins  works  no  irreparable  injury,  any  more  than  did  the  distant  taint 
of  Charles  Ceiling's  Galloway,  or  the  imputed  West  Highland  crosses 
of  nearly  a  century  ago  work  a  deadly  objection  to  many  English 
Short-horns  of  their  own  time.  We  say  this  not  as  advocating  these 
outside  crosses;  on  the  other  hand  we  object  to  them;  but  being 


260  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

adopted  in  the  English  Herd  Book,  which  is  our  standard  authority, 
they  cannot  be  consistently  ruled  out  of  the  classification. 

Another  thing  should  be  recollected  by  the  breeders  who  claim 
that  their  own  herds  are  untainted  by  these  remotely  questionable 
pedigrees.  Their  own  superior  bulls  and  cows,  as  they  term  them, 
find  frequent  and  some  of  their  best  customers  among  the  breeders 
of  the  1817  and  other  early  non-pedigreed  imported  stocks,  and  there 
need  exist  no  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  untainted  pedigree  breeders 
that  their  own  bloods  are  to  be  cheapened  by  reason  of  the  others 
being  tolerated.  There  is  room  and  scope  for  all  in  our  broad  and 
rapidly  developing  country,  and  so  long  as  individual  choice  in  bloods 
and  pedigrees  is  open  to  the  public,  superior  merit,  both  in  pedi- 
gree and  quality,  will  assert  its  claims  in  the  judgment  of  all  who 
have  an  eye  to  the  improvement  of  their  stocks. 

If  it  be  objected  against  those  far-away  slightly  tainted  stocks 
that  they  (as  may  possibly  be  the  case)  throw  out  an  occasional 
progeny  betraying  the  foreign  blood,  let  it  be  also  understood  that 
an  occasional  defective  product  of  even  the  most  approved  tribes 
is  also  witnessed.  It  is  simply  nonsense  to  assert  that  even  the  best 
of  blood  will,  in  every  individual  instance,  breed  its  own  like  in  its 
descendants.  Animal  nature  is  always  exceptional,  more  or  less,  in 
the  production  of  its  kind,  from  humanity  itself,  down  to  the  lowest 
grades  of  domesticated  things,  and  we  must  submit  to  results  as  we 
find  them,  doing  the  best  we  can,  meanwhile,  by  proper  means  and 
care,  to  promote  the  most  successful  issues  to  our  labors. 

NOTES  ON  BREEDING. 

After  the  exhaustive,  and  possibly  tiresome  historical  matter  we 
have  recorded,  the  reader  and  breeder  will  hardly  expect  from  us  an 
essay  on  the  proper  breeding  of  Short-horns  as  a  basis  of  instruction 
to  further  efforts  in  the  improvement  of  his  stock.  Numerous  essays 
have  been  written,  various  in  theory  and  opinion — some  wisely,  and 
some  not — which  have  been  studied  by  thoughtful  physiologists  and 
breeders,  frequently  with  profit,  and  sometimes  without.  Our  own 
ideas  on  this  important  subject  have  been  given  in  a  work  lately 
issued  from  the  press,  entitled  "AMERICAN  CATTLE,  THEIR  HISTORY, 
BREEDING,  AND  MANAGEMENT,"  which  can  be  obtained  at  almost  any 
of  the  book  collections  of  the  agricultural  papers  in  the  country. 
We  have  little,  if  anything,  to  say  in  addition  to  what  has  been 
written  there,  and  to  that  work  we  refer  the  inquirer,  if  he  wishes 


NOTES    ON    BREEDING.  26 1 

to  investigate  the  subject  further  than  what  his  own  previous  read- 
ing and  observation  have  already  done. 

The  disposition  of  almost  every  Short-horn  breeder  to  record  his 
pedigrees  in  the  Herd  Book  is  a  testimony  of  the  importance  which 
he  concedes  to  it.  He  there  finds  the  records  of  animals  by  name 
and  pedigree,  which  public  opinion  has  decided  to  be  of  the  highest 
standards  of  blood'  and  excellence  thus  far  attained,  and  his  own 
observation  (if  he  has  kept  up  with  the  progress  of  the  race)  must 
have  educated  him  to  know  what  a  good  animal  should  be.  If  in  all 
these  he  has  yet  formed  no  ideas  of  guidance  for  a  further  improve- 
ment in  his  herd,  we  fail  to  know  how  he  can  be  instructed.  If  he 
decide  to  proceed  on  the  "  in-and-in  system,"  (breeding  closely  together 
those  which  are  of  the  same  family  blood,)  he  must  be  cautious  in  the 
choice  of  animals  which  it  may  be  safe  to  couple  with  each  other — 
wise  if  rightly  done,  but  hazardous  if  not ;  or,  if  out-and-out  (breed- 
ing with  such  animals  as  are  not  close  of  kin)  be  his  choice,  equal 
care  and  consideration  must  be  given  that  their  style,  figure,  and  con- 
formation be  such  as  to  blend  their  good  qualities,  and  exclude  the 
bad,  if  either  one  possess  them. 

A  large  majority  of  the  American  Short-horn  breeders,  now  that 
the  race  has  been  generally  adopted  as  the  best  and  most  profitable 
for  flesh-producing  purposes,  (not  only  in  their  fullness  of  blood,  but  as 
instruments  for  improving  the  lower  orders  of  our  native  stock  to 
the  most  profitable  development,)  propagate  their  animals  mainly 
for  that  object,  apparently  regardless  of  the  milking  faculty  of  the 
cow,  as  the  dairy  product  forms  little  or  no  part  of  the  revenue 
expected  from  her.  Yet,  it  has  been  seen  in  the  progress  of  our 
history,  that  the  Short-horn,  from  the  earliest  account  we  have  of 
her,  has  been  a  good  milker,  and  that  quality  was  fostered  by  most 
of  the  early  breeders  of  which  we  have  an  account,  and  is  still 
encouraged  in  her  use  by  such  as  esteem  it  of  any  considerable  im- 
portance. The  dairy  quality  may  be  partially  bred  out,  if  the  breeder 
so  desire  it,  or  equally  well  retained  if  he  so  wish  it,  by  the  use  of 
bulls  descended  from  cows  of  like  tendencies.  It  is  only  for  him  to 
choose  which  course  to  pursue,  and  in  so  doing  he  need  not  forget,  in 
view  of  the  examples  we  have  recorded,  and  his  own  observation  also, 
that  after  having  done  her  full  duty  in  breeding,  and  at  the  pail,  she 
fulfills  her  destiny  in  a  profitable  carcass  at  the  shambles.  He  must 
remember,  however,  that  the  cow  cannot  well  carry  a  full  carcass  of 
flesh  while  yielding  generous  flows  of  milk  to  the  dairy,  and  conse- 
quently will  show  less  attractively  to  the  eye  than  one  giving  little  or 


262  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

no  milk  in  the  plenitude  of  good  pasturage,  or  stall-feeding.  But  her 
produce  will  show  equally  well,  with  the  same  care  and  keeping,  (if 
that  produce  be  devoted  solely  to  flesh  purposes,)  as  the  progeny  of 
the  other  and  fleshier  one. 

In  a  past  notice  we  have  tried  to  give  the  points  of  a  perfect  Short- 
horn ;  and  the  nearer  an  animal  approaches  perfection  in  its  anatomy, 
the  more  valuable  it  is  for  flesh-producing  purposes,  as  such  anatomy 
yields  the  best  product  in  the  choicer  parts  of  the  carcass,  and  of 
course  more  profitable  to  the  seller  and  consumer.  Therefore  the 
nearer  perfection  a  breeding  bull  approaches  in  his  various  points, 
the  more  valuable  he  is  as  a  getter.  For  such  a  bull,  to  the  breeder 
of  grade  stock  for  the  shambles  only,  it  is  more  economical  to  pay 
a  round  price  than  to  take  a  defective  one  at  a  much  lower  price,  or 
even  as  a  gift.  Such  is  the  reason  why  experienced  breeders  some- 
times pay  enormous  prices  for  extraordinarily  good  bulls,  as  we  have 
known ;  not  that  such  bulls  are  to  be  used  on  native  or  low-bred  cows 
for  grade  breeding,  but  that  on  good  thorough-bred  cows  they  beget 
a  much  higher  class  of  bulls  than  are  usually  sought  for  more 
common  uses.  It  is,  therefore,  an  object  for  any  breeder,  and  for 
whatever  purpose,  to  command  as  good  blood  in  the  bulls  of  his  herd 
as  circumstances  will  admit. 

Let  continuous  improvement  in  blood,  quality,  and  style  of  his  ani- 
mals be  the  aim  of  every  breeder,  and  never  for  any  trivial  purpose 
lose  sight  of  it.  The  new  breeder  in  selecting  the  females  to  compose 
his  herd,  if  he  have  a  preference  for  any  particular,  strain  of  blood, 
should  determine  which  he  will  adopt,  and  then  obtaining  the  best 
selections  he  can  from  them  go  on  persistently  in  breeding,  still  bear- 
ing in  mind  that  uniformity  in  the  characters  of  his  herd,  when  coupled 
with  true  excellence,  is  a  great  merit,  giving  conspicuity  and  reputation 
to  the  breeder,  and  of  course,  a  superior  selling  value  to  his  animals. 
A  herd  so  established,  in  the  present  convenient  ways  of  locomotion 
through  our  country,  need  not  suffer  from  the  evils — if  men  so 
think — of  too  close  interbreeding.  There  are  bulls  enough,  mainly 
of  the  same  blood  and  lineage,  scattered  over  the  Short-horn  districts 
of  the  United  States  and  Canadas,  to  give  fresh  crosses  in  every 
herd  of  their  own  tribes  when  such  crosses  become  necessary. 

Quality  and  pedigree  both,  should  go  together ;  each  endorse  the 
virtues  of  the  other.  Yet,  even  defect  in  the  quality  of  a  bull  may  be 
remedied  by  the  superior  excellences  of  his  pedigree,  when  that  ped- 
igree has  run  through  some  previous  generations  of  marked  distinction. 
Among  many  bulls  which,  without  any  noticeable  characteristics  of 


NOTES    ON    BREEDING.  263 

superior  quality  in  themselves,  have  proved  remarkably  good  getters, 
may  be  named  Robert  Ceiling's  Lancaster  (360),  white,  calved  in 
1814;  and  Thomas  Bates'  Short  Tail  (2621),  red  and  white,  calved 
in  1824;  both  small  and  inferior  looking  bulls,  yet  they  begat  many 
among  the  best  animals  of  their  day.  We  mention  these  not  to  give 
any  preference  to  their  particular  bloods,  or  families,  but  because 
they  were  comparatively  mean  in  appearance.  Others  and  parallel 
instances  of  the  kind  may  occur  to  the  recollection  of  the  reader. 

THOROUGH-BREDS — FULL-BLOODS. 

The  above  terms  have  been  frequently  applied,  for  many  years 
past,  among  the  Short-horn  breeders  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  to 
designate  a  difference  in  the  bloods  of  Short-horns — "thorough- 
breds" meaning  such  animals  as  run  their  pedigrees  back  into  the 
Herd  Books  without  taint  of  known  other  blood  ;  while  "  full-blobds  " 
mean  such  pedigrees  as  run  back  through  many  Herd  Book  crosses 
into  unknown  lineage.  We  consider  the  term  "full-blood,"  thus  used, 
as  simply  conventional  with  those  applying  it.  Thorough-bit^,  and 
/^//-blood  are  identical  in  meaning,  if  language  has  any  signification. 
Thorough  means  full,  and  full  means  thorough,  according  to  the 
dictionaries.  The  manner  in  which  the  terms  have  been  used  is 
erroneous,  and  the  practice  of  it  only  confuses  the  inexperienced 
breeder,  is  of  no  service  to  the  matured  one,  and  should  be  discon- 
tinued. If  a  convention  of  Short-horn  breeders,  representing  all  the 
different  sentiments  and  opinions  which  prevail  relating  to  bloods 
and  pedigrees  could  declare,  through  unanimity  of  opinion,  at  what 
fraction  of  outside  or  foreign  blood,  a  pedigree  should  be  admitted  to, 
or  excluded  from  a  Herd  Book  record,  an  important  point  might  be 
gained;  but  until  such  decision  can  be  made,  "thorough-bred"  and 
"  full-blood  "  may  mean  something,  or  nothing,  in  the  way  of  distinc- 
tion, as  those  who  use  the  terms  may  decide.  The  entire  pedigree  of 
the  animal  in  question,  so  far  as  ascertainable,  is  the  only  proof  of 
breeding,  and  that  must  be  determined  by  the  Herd  Book,  if  no  better 
record  can  be  found. 


We  here  conclude  our  historical  labors.  Much  collateral  matter 
has,  of  necessity,  been  introduced  as  explanatory  to  incidents  and 
facts  which  would  appear  uncertain  or  doubtful  without  it.  Much 
more  than  has  been  gathered  into  these  pages  we  might  have  written 
relating  to  sundry  animals  in  many  of  the  English,  as  well  as  our 


264  HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

American  herds,  but  which,  had  we  done  so,  although  it  might  gratify 
curiosity,  would  not  change  any  individual  opinions  which  may  exist 
touching  either  the  merits  of  their  blood,  or  the  authenticity  of  their 
pedigrees. 

So  long  as  select  breeding  in  any  race  of  animals  is  followed  there 
will  be  preferences  for  particular  bloods,  tribes  and  individual  animals, 
with  their  different  strains  of  genealogy,  over  others ;  and  there  will 
be  more  or  less  party  spirit  betrayed  in  discussions  which  may  arise 
regarding  them.  No  individual  judgment  can  definitely  settle  those 
disputed  questions,  and  merit  or  demerit  will  have  its  award  mainly 
in  private  opinion  rather  than  through  acquiescence  in  any  public  de- 
cision, even  if  such  decision  should  be  attempted ;  and  if  attempted, 
would  be  simply  impossible. 


INDEX. 


Page 
Agriculture  in  England — Early  Authors,..  17 

American  Cow, 54 

Alloy  of  the  Galloway,  bred  by  Charles 

Colling 65-68 

Althorp,  Lord, 149 

American  Short-horns  —  Their  History —  155 

Their  Improvement, 244 

American  Pedigrees  in  English  Herd  Book,  254 

Bulls,  Studley  bull 28 

J.  Brown's  red  bull, 29 

Other  noted  early  bulls, 30 

Hubback, 36 

Foljambe, 43 

Bolingbroke,  Favorite,  Comet, 44 

Belvedere, 127 

Bakewell,  Robert,  as  a  stock-breeder, 33 

Berry,  Rev.  Henry, 61 

Bell's  (Thomas)  Short-horn  History, 118 

Breeding,  Charles  Ceiling's  mode  of, 46 

Robert  Ceiling's  mode  of, 53 

Booth    family,   as   Short-horn   breeders — 

Career  during  three  generations, 95-117 

Bates,  Thomas,  his  early  life,  cattle  breed- 
ing and  history, 118-147 

Death, 138 

Sale  of  his  herd, 138 

Did  he  improve  the  Short-horns,.. .   144 
Breckenridge's   (Rev.    R.   J.)    opinion    of 

Pedigrees, 253 

Breeding,  notes  on, 260 

Cow  on  Durham  Cathedral, 20-21 

Chillingham  wild  Cattle, 24 

Colling,  Robert  and  Charles, 31 

Cows,  The  Stanwick,  or  original  Duchess,  41 

Lady  Maynard  and  Y.  Strawberry,.  42 

Phoenix, 44 

Haughton, '. . . .  57 

Duchess,  by  Daisy  bull, 123 

Duchess  ist, 123 

Duchess  34th, 128 

Matchem  Cow, 129 

High  prices  paid  for  in  early  days,. .  150 

As  Milkers, 215 


Page 

Ceiling's  (Charles)  Sale  in  1812, 69-76 

Ceiling's  (Robert)  Sale  in  1818  and  1820,.. 77-92 

Ceilings'  Cattle  Improvement, 93 

Colors  of  Short-horn  noses, 218 

Colors  of  Short-horn  hair, 219 

Carr's  (of  Stackhouse)  History  of  the  Booth 

Short-horns, 95~"7 

Color  of  Bates'  herds, 134 

Danish  Invasions  of  Northumbria 15 

Danish  Cattle  taken  to  Northumbria, 15  ' 

Dutch   Cattle  said  to  be  introduced  into 

England , 24 

Duke  of  Northumberland  a  cattle-breeder,  24 

Durham  Ox, 51 

Duchess  Tribe, 125-131 

Ducie's  (Lord)  Sale, 141 

English  People — Their  early  condition,...  16 

Earliest  known  Short-horn  Breeders, 24-26 

Early  Colors  and  Appearance  of  the  Cattle,  27 

Elder  Short-horn  Breeders, 148 

Etches,  J.  C.,  selected  Cattle  in  England,  165 

Exportations  of  Short-horns  to  England,  222 

English  Short-horns — Late  Improvement,  244 

Foggathorpe  Tribe 133 

Full-bloods, 263 

George  III.  a  Short-horn  Breeder, 33 

Galloway  Grandson  of  Bolingbroke, 61 

Gough  (or  Goff)  and  Miller  Importations,  156 

History,  First  Period, 13-18 

Second  Period , 18—27 

Herd  Book,  English, 231-239 

American 240-243 

Improvement   in   Short-horns — When   be-        , 

gan, 23 

In  later  years, 244-254 

Improvers  in  Breeding — The  Ceilings,  56-61-93 

Importations  of  1815  and  1816, 160 

Importations  of  1817  to  Kentucky, 161 

Importations  of  1817  to   1830  by  various 
parties, 172-177 


266 


INDEX. 


Page 
Importations  of  1833  to  1840,  by  various 

parties, 178-188 

Importations  of  1849  to  T^7li  by  various 

parties, 193-212 

Importations  into  Canada, 212-214 

Killerby  Short-horns — Booth, 108 

Kirkleavington  described, 124 

Matchem  Cow, 129 

Mason,  Christopher, 148 

Miller  Importation, 156 

Oxford  Tribe, 130-132 

Perfect  Short-horn  described, 225 

Pedigrees, 230 

Pure  Short-horns, 230-235    i 

Pedigrees,  English, 235 

English,  their  qualities,  etc., 248 

In  American  Herd  Book, 252 

Diagram  of, 49~5o 

In  Vols.  4  and  5,  English  Herd  Book,  254 


Page 

Pedigrees,  American  authorities  for, 255 

Absence  of, 258 

Patton  Stock, 158 

Red  Rose  Tribe, 133 

Short-horns,  Early  characteristics  of, 19 

As  a  flesh-producing  animal, 216 

Storer  on  Ceiling's  Breeding, 47 

Studley  Short-horns — Booths, 102 

Sanders'  (Col.  Lewis)  importation  of  1817,  161 

Produce  of, 168 

Short-horns  imported  without  pedigrees,..  258 


Teeswater  Cattle, 

Thorough-breds, 


31 

263 


White  Heifer  that  Traveled, 52 

Warlaby  Herd— Booth 113 

Waterloo  Tribe, 132 

Wild  Eyes  Tribe, 133 


Youatt's  Cattle  History, 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA 
BRANCH    OF    THE    COLLEGE    OF    AGRICULTURE 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


DUENOV    ?  1970 
.C'D 


5m-8,'26 


122624 


Allen,  .u. 


••39. 


History  of  the  shor-t-h 


orn  cattle 


f4& 


LIBRARY,  BRANCH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 


ill 


1 


